AIBU to think live-streamed public executions have no place in a civilised society?

[PeasOff]

Just when you think you're becoming desensitised to Trump and the constant stream of news coming out of America.. you read something else that makes you think WTF is actually going on?!

According to the BBC, the Pentagon has confirmed that the first public execution in 60 years is set to take place. The plan is for a terrorist to be executed by firing squad, with the execution being live-streamed.

My immediate thought was that ISIS used to film and broadcast executions as a form of propaganda, intimidation and to make a spectacle of killing. Obviously, there are differences between a terrorist organisation and a country carrying out a judicial sentence, but does live-streaming an execution really make it any less barbaric?

We rightly condemn terrorist groups for turning death into a public spectacle, so why would it be acceptable for a government to do something similar?

How can broadcasting their death to the public can be justified in a modern, civilised society.

AIBU to find this disturbing? Is there any legitimate place for public, live-streamed executions in society, or is this a step to far?

BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmy0r96xygx6o

I understand that for the execution of the Oklahoma Bomber the execution was live-streamed from the prison to a room in Oklahoma City to 230 people who were relatives of the victims.

Well - showing the citizenry the reality might actually move the dial on the death penalty conversation. Many supporters have never confronted the reality, of course.

That’s all I can come up with as a positive.

But then the US does like to kill (or fail to kill) people in macabre and unusual ways.

It's not about the murderer. Of course he is dreadful and what he did is unforgivable.

But Pete Hegseth ordering shooting fishermen in the water as their boat sinks, streaming public executions, and a rapist in the White House? More that one thing can be criminally insane at the same time.

It’s like something out of the Hunger Games.

It makes me sad because the US is such an amazing and important country in so many ways.

Of course they don't - but neither does having the death penalty at all. It's unthinkable that so many states in "the world's greatest democracy" still think it's acceptable to murder their citizens.

Of course. It is barbaric. The countries that allow this aren’t looked on favourably.
The American government seems to have lost their mind. They have distracting the world from the economic crisis they’re facing and causing.
Pete Hegseth is a blood thirsty loon, like the late lyndsey Graham fella.

I can't see any sympathy for the murderer on here.

Do you really think we need you to explain the terrible nature of his crimes? The thread is about the proposed live streaming of his death.

Never again can Americans take the moral high ground anyway.
Has anyone actually pointed out to Hegsbreath that they are making him a Martyr? He likely wouldn't know what that means or why it might attract many more of them to US...

Exactly. You don’t need to feel any sympathy for any murderer to think that public executions are barbaric.

Absolutely unbelievable. I have no idea how this can be happening in the USA in 2026. Same with ICE. I feel sorry for the civilised Americas living there.

It's got nothing to do with sympathy for the murderer. It's about watching the US state degrade itself into medieval barbarity.

You think they'll get sponsors!
Gosh, that would be dark.

I'm certain that some brands would happily be associated with it 🤷🏻‍♀️

it is completely barbaric and will be counter productive - well I mean unless they want to significantly increase the chance of terror attacked in America (which given how batshit they are, they might)

I would chuck Israel into that group too unfortunately after what we all know has gone on in Gaza, and what happens in Israeli prisons. Who would have thought this sort of shit was going to be happening in 2026 😢 Humanity is going backwards sigh..

No one is saying what the murderer did was anything other than horrific, the question is if live streaming an execution by firing squad has any place in a western supposed civilised society.

Which clearly it doesn't.

Imagine being the sort of person who wants to watch this. The thought makes me feel sick. I had to remove myself from X because it was filled with gruesome images of Palestinians, I can’t handle that sort of imagery. To think people will watch someone being blown to pieces for fun, like it’s a Netflix show makes me feel ill. They walk among us.

Hesgeth is a Religious Fundamentalist nutjob .. and like all Religious Fundamentalists (regardless of the flavour) he enjoys public death, and cloaks it in his religious beliefs in some sort of shallow justification.

Yes, this is not about him, it's about us. If you're the sort of psychopath who would happily watch a man being executed lived on TV and enjoy it, then you probably should definitely not be allowed to watch executions. People should be repulsed by the idea

I was actually thinking along the lines of: YouTube (other streaming platforms are available) streams it, I boycott every single fucker who advertises anywhere on YouTube.

But now you mention it, an actual event sponsor doesn't even seem that outlandish in the circumstances any more.

USA is no longer a civilised society from leadership side. But they can bait the masses. Who will go along with it. C.f. hand maids tale.

They are all bat-shit . For a country that goes on about pro life and Jesus they sure do like killing people.

18 years ago they were on the cusp of electing Obama. And now this.
What a depth that country has plundered in one short lifetime 😥.

The death penalty has no place in civilised society as far as I'm concerned.

Totally agree. If this goes ahead, how can the US claim any cultural integrity over say, Saudi Arabia? The world has gone mad. But there are so many fundamentalist Christians in the US that will be chanting "USA, USA..."

Hegseth is a true sociopath. Remember when he spoke with glee about "death raining from the skies..." This was about bombing Iran, just a day after they accidentally dropped a bomb on a girls' school, killing hundreds. Still this is never mentioned and they take no responsibility. It's beyond reprehensible.

YANBU. He's a lunatic. Dangerous.