Why does the US want the world to see its executions?

In brief A proposed livestream would revive public executions in the US for the first time since 1936. Analysts say the plan could promote a more aggressive military image and rally Trump supporters. The planned livestream of a US execution would revive a form of punishment abandoned nearly a century ago after public executions came to be seen as chaotic spectacles. United States defence secretary Pete Hegseth last week announced the execution of former US Army major Nidal Hasan by firing squad, scheduled for early December, would be livestreamed online. Hasan killed 13 people in a mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, and Hegseth said the livestream was about deterring others. "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" Hegseth told right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec in an interview aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln last week. However, there are doubts the broadcast will go ahead. US President Donald Trump is yet to publicly confirm the plan and politicians from both major parties are voicing opposition, including Trump allies. News that makes sense Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox. "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America," Republican Senator Thom Tillis said recently on social media. The proposal has raised questions about the Trump's administration's approach to capital punishment, his efforts to refresh the US military's image and the political appeal of publicly broadcasting state-sanctioned violence. The proposal has also been condemned across the political divide in Australia. The Greens have called on the federal government to block the livestream, while One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce described it as "Roman amphitheatre stuff". Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government is looking at options to limit Australians from viewing the potential broadcast but said "things are not as simple as turning off a light switch and we will do what we can to shut it down." A history of public executions Public executions have historically been used to deter crime, display state power and enforce the social and political order. But it's been almost a century since the practice was phased out in the US, with the last public execution taking place in 1937 amid growing concerns that executions had become chaotic spectacles. The hanging of Rainey Bethea, a young African American man executed for raping and killing a 70-year-old woman, drew a crowd of more than 20,000 people in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1936. The last fully public execution in the United States took place in 1936, although some historical accounts date the last execution open to the general public to 1937. Source: Getty / Bettmann Archive The event became a national scandal because of the unruly, disorganised crowd. Kentucky abolished public executions 18 months later. While public executions have ended, the death penalty remains in place in 27 US states, making the country an outlier among Western liberal democracies. Capital punishment retains majority support among Americans, with 52 per cent supporting the punishment for murder, according to a 2025 Gallup poll. However, support has fallen from a peak of 80 per cent in 1994. In 2025, the US carried out 47 executions across 11 states, up from 25 the previous year. US Army major Nidal Hasan shot dead 13 people at a US military base in 2009. Lethal injection remains the preferred method of execution, although botched procedures have prompted scrutiny of the practice, such as the recent attempted execution of Christa Pike. If Hasan's execution goes ahead on 3 December, it would mark the return of public executions after nearly 90 years and the first US military execution since 1961. The US military's image re-brand David Smith, associate professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, said capital punishment in the US had historical roots, particularly in southern states, where executions were seen as a way to maintain social order amid racialised fears following the abolition of slavery and during the era of public lynchings. However, he found Hegseth's argument that livestreaming the execution would deter crime unconvincing, given that many terrorists and mass killers expected to die. Instead, he said, the proposal formed part of a broader campaign to promote the US military's "lethal" image, pointing to footage of military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean regularly posted online. "When the United States military started to become a permanent force in American life, it was very strongly believed that it had to be lawful and professional," he told SBS News. "Hegseth is really trying to transform that into what he calls a warrior culture ... which is a lot more violent and a lot wilder, and which he thinks shouldn't be subject to constraints. "He seems to be cultivating an online audience that appreciates this celebration of violence and killing." Last year, Trump signed an executive order renaming the Department of Defense as the Department of War. In a recent speech, Hegseth said the department was no longer the "woke department", declaring its focus was warfighting and that he would be "unrelenting, unapologetic, and uncompromising in that single pursuit". But the proposed livestream could carry political risks for Trump. Smith pointed to scepticism from Trump's own allies, including vice president JD Vance, who has questioned whether the plan will proceed, and House speaker Mike Johnson, who warned a public broadcast could become a "recruiting tool" for terrorists. "My guess is he's waiting for advice from his political advisers on whether this is going to be popular or not, and if he gets advice that it's going to be overwhelmingly unpopular, I think that he will not allow it to go ahead," he said. Smith noted Trump had backed down his Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown after two US citizens were shot dead, sparking public backlash. 'Rallying the base' Emma Shortis, director of the Australia Institute's International and Security Affairs Program, said the livestream was about "rallying the base" as Republicans polled poorly ahead of the midterm elections. "It’s entirely possible this is yet another effort by the Trump administration to shift the Overton window — to normalise previously unspeakable things," she told SBS News. "You can see that in the way Trump talks about Somali Americans and in his administration's targeting of representative Ilhan Omar. "These are demonstrations of power, particularly racially based power." Federal agents raided Omar's home , as she accused Trump's administration of targeting political opponents ahead of the midterm elections. While many Australians would often view the US as similar to their own country, Shortis said such the issue highlighted the cultural differences. "I think it's quite clear that it's being viewed with horror," she said. "We've seen that from across the political spectrum in Australia. We're seeing that in European allies as well. I guess we're kind of viewing this with shock and disbelief that this would happen." The death penalty was abolished in all Australian states by 1985, with the last execution in the country taking place in 1967. In 2010, federal parliament passed laws permanently preventing any Australian jurisdiction from reinstating capital punishment. Opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances has broad bipartisan support in Australia. The government will not extradite a person to face criminal charges overseas without formal assurances that the death penalty will not be sought. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has long supported reintroducing the death penalty, but the minor party has recently dropped its policy advocating capital punishment. For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter .