When Nidal Hasan is put to death by firing squad during
, he will become the first person to be publicly executed in the United States in nearly a century.
asserted
he → put → century
The Defense Department announced Thursday the
of Hasan, the ex-Army major who was convicted in the 2009 killings of 13 people at Fort Hood, will be livestreamed on Dec. 3.
asserted
who → announce → Dec.
Hasan is paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the back by police who responded to the mass shooting.
asserted
who → paralyze → shooting
"He's gonna get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Jack Posobiec on Real America's Voice.
asserted
Hegseth → go → Voice
"We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public — because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things.
asserted
people → make → things
"
The decision has generated
.The list of countries that still carry out public executions, whether on video or in a public place, is very short and almost entirely countries accused of human rights violations.
asserted
that → generate → violations
Afghanistan and Iran are the only two known countries to execute anyone publicly in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to Amnesty International.
uncertain
Afghanistan → know → International
Yemen publicly executed multiple people in 2021, according to the group.
uncertain
Yemen → execute → group
"Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it?
asserted
execution → face → it
Beyond disgusting," Republican Sen. Thom Tillis wrote on X. "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do.
asserted
dictatorships → write → Iran
It should not be happening in America.
asserted
It → happen → America
History of public executions in U.S.
Two public executions in the mid-1930s are considered to be the last public uses of the death penalty in the United States.
asserted
executions → consider → States
The crowd on hand to watch the hanging was estimated at 20,000 people, according to a local newspaper at the time.
uncertain
crowd → watch → time
Bethea was accused of raping and murdering a 70-year-old woman in her home in Owensboro, Kentucky, in June 1936.
asserted
Bethea → accuse → June
He accidentally left his recognizable prison ring at the scene, and confessed to the crime several times, though he did recant during a failed appeal.
asserted
he → leave → appeal
He was never convicted of murder, only rape, which still carried the death penalty.
asserted
which → convict → penalty
Bethea, who was 26 years old, was hanged on Aug. 14, 1936.
asserted
who → hang → Aug.
A year later, Roscoe "Red" Jackson was executed in Galena, Missouri, also by hanging.
asserted
Jackson → execute → hanging
He was convicted of killing a traveling salesman and stealing his car after being picked up by the victim as a hitchhiker.
asserted
He → convict → hitchhiker
The crowd for Jackson's execution was much smaller, since it was not held in the public streets of the city like Bethea's hanging.
"Just how many were inside is not known, though it is thought the space would accommodate at least 400 people," wrote the authors of an article on the execution from the local Stone County News-Oracle.
asserted
authors → hold → Oracle
"Executions shouldn't be public spectacle," Human Rights Watch interim U.S. Program Director Michael Bochenek told CBS News in a statement.
asserted
Bochenek → tell → statement
"The death penalty is a relic of an inhumane past and should be abolished once and for all."
asserted
penalty → abolish → all
Public executions in Iran
Iran, which the United States has accused of gross human rights violations, is one of the most prolific users of public executions in the world currently.
asserted
States → accuse → world
The U.S. and Iran are also
, and President Trump has routinely cited Iran's executions of protesters as a reason the regime deserved to be deposed.
asserted
regime → cite → reason
At least 24 people were publicly executed in Iran from 2022 to 2025, according to Amnesty International.
uncertain
people → execute → International
Fifty-nine people were executed this year in Iran between March 18 and Aug. 31, including dozens who took part in anti-government protests earlier this year, according to Human Rights Watch.
uncertain
who → execute → Watch
Five of those executions have been public, the organization said.
asserted
organization → say → executions
In late February, eight days before launching strikes against Iran, Mr. Trump said
against Iran if they publicly executed hundreds of people.
asserted
they → launch → people
"They were going to hang 837 people, and I gave them the word, if you hang one person, even one person, that you're going to be hit right then and there," Mr. Trump said.
asserted
Trump → go → person
"I wasn't waiting two weeks and negotiating.
asserted
I → wait → ?
And they gave up the hanging.
asserted
they → give → hanging
They didn't hang 837, supposedly they didn't hang anybody."
asserted
they → hang → anybody
Public executions in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has publicly executed at least 12 people since 2022, according to Amnesty International, though its reports note there were possibly more.
uncertain
reports → execute → International
Public executions in Afghanistan have spiked since the Taliban swept back into power in August 2021.
asserted
Taliban → spike → August
Executions have even been carried out in front of thousands of onlookers in sports stadiums, including one in November 2024 that earned worldwide condemnation.
asserted
that → carry → condemnation
"I condemn today's horrific public execution," Richard Bennett, who monitors human rights violations in Afghanistan for the United Nations, said in a statement at the time.
asserted
who → condemn → time
"These atrocious punishments are clear violations of human rights and must be immediately halted."
Another person, reportedly convicted of murder, was publicly executed in a sports stadium in October 2025, according to the U.N.
The Taliban regularly carried out public executions during their first period of rule in the 1990s, until the U.S. invasion in 2001 forced them out of power.
uncertain
invasion → halt → power
Public executions elsewhere in the world
North Korea is also believed to carry out public executions, though reporting is difficult from the extremely isolated country.
In February, Amnesty International put out a report that included interviews with North Korean defectors who said they had been forced to watch public executions as a way of warning them against committing similar supposed crimes — sometimes for as little as watching foreign television programs.
asserted
they → believe → programs
"Authorities told everyone to go, and tens of thousands of people from Sinuiju city gathered to watch," one female defector interviewed by the human rights group said.
asserted
defector → tell → group
"They execute people to brainwash and educate us."
asserted
They → execute → us
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
