Execution and Public Spectacle: Analyzing the Recent Debate
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stepped away after introducing President Donald Trump at a 2026 event. The gathering took place at Sparrows Point Shipyard in Maryland, highlighting Anduril Industries, Inc. Meanwhile, a historical context unfolded alongside. The last notable public execution in the U.S. was Rainey Bethea’s hanging in 1936. This event drew a crowd of about 20,000 in Owensboro, Kentucky. The atmosphere was described as festive, with attendees indulging in ‘necktie’ parties and drinks, likened to a picnic scene.
Despite the cheer in Owensboro, national disapproval was significant, ending public executions by 1938. Fast forward 88 years, the administration nearly revived the practice. Hegseth announced the intended live broadcast of Nidal Hasan’s firing-squad execution, originally scheduled for December 3. Hasan had been convicted for his 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 32. Initially supported by Trump, bipartisan backlash led to the decision’s reversal.
The reversal stemmed from losing an argument, not a change of heart. Trump’s insistence on the deterrent effect of such broadcasts underscored this. My experience as a South Carolina prosecutor provided insight into capital punishment. Having argued for the death penalty in both state and federal contexts, I even helped legalize firing squads in South Carolina due to a belief in their relative humanity over electrocution. Writing “Dig Me a Grave” prompted reflection on state-sanctioned life-taking and the accountability this entails.
Although I advocate the death penalty in rare instances, I’ve learned its ineffectiveness as a crime deterrent. Broadcasting it would not alter this fact. Execution deters only further crimes by the executed. A man I prosecuted and sentenced to death had multiple murder convictions; his execution was necessary to halt his violence. Similarly, Hasan’s execution is justified. However, publicizing it would harm society more than punish him.
Attending executions can offer victims closure, though witnessing it firsthand hasn’t shown this effect to me. There is no triumph in taking lives. Rather, making spectacles of executions brings the public down to the level of the condemned. Potential gatherings to watch Hasan’s death on live feed would devalue human life further. Trump’s preference for dramatized violence aligns with the demand for shock value over substantive consequence. The attempt to make execution entertainment teaches a dangerous lesson: life and character hold no value in spectacle-driven administration. The halt of the livestream plan indicates no learning or moral shift.
Dick Harpootlian, a defense attorney and founder of Harpootlian Attorneys At Law, has held roles as a prosecutor and South Carolina state senator. He successfully prosecuted serial killer Donald ‘Pee Wee’ Gaskins and authored “Dig Me a Grave.”