It still a choice in some States. It never went away.
Five U.S. states currently authorize the firing squad as a method of execution (as of late 2026): Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah.
Army: 12 dead in 31 wounded shooting attacks at Fort Hood base in Texas
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Five U.S. states currently authorize the firing squad as a method of execution (as of late 2026): Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah.
When is the last time any of them used it? Then when is the last time any of them used it publicly? Televised it? Live-streamed?
This dude is a dirty shit and he deserves to go, don’t get me wrong, but this has such a “Hunger Games” aristocrats decree sort of feel to it.
When was the last time the US federal government or its military executed somebody publicly? Why now? Actually, the better question is why announce it now?
Public executions were not ended by a single federal ban; instead, individual states phased them out through local legislation—culminating in the last official state-sanctioned public hanging in Owensboro, Kentucky, on August 14, 1936, which had the carnival atmosphere that Trump wanted for his birthday in Washington DC & it embarrassed the local officials and politicians with the 20,000 or so people that were in attendance like it was a big circus.
A couple months ago, is how I knew. Dont quote me but I think there was fuck up and the person survived.
I will look.
Mikal Mahdi: Survived initial shots during a South Carolina firing squad execution on April 11, 2025, after the shooters missed his heart and instead hit his liver and internal organs, causing extended pain and consciousness before he died.
PS Im 100% if favour or public execution even public shaming (yes the stocks) and of course the woooodchipperrrrr.
The above wasn’t a public execution was it? Down in the Townhall Square or broadcast across the Interwebs.?
Being antisemantic Ill stick to what I started with which is "firing squads never went away".
Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, told CNBC it is his understanding that the execution would not air on broadcast TV but said he would defer to Hegseth on whether US networks could air it. “I’m just here to target President Trumps perceived enemies that run afoul of his personal grievances like Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert or those that our commander in chief’s opinion broadcast ‘fake news’ by criticizing Trump or asking difficult questions.”
US law prohibits the recording or broadcasting of executions in the federal prison system. Military regulations have not applied that same prohibition. Courts have rejected lawsuits brought by media organizations seeking broader public access to executions.
The plan to livestream the execution comes at a time of heightened debate in the US over the death penalty following the botched lethal injection last week of a Tennessee woman who was sentenced to death for a 1995 murder. The controversy has flared in the run-up to the November 3 US midterm elections in which Republicans are fighting to retain control of Congress.
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US law prohibits the recording or broadcasting of executions in the federal prison system. Military regulations have not applied that same prohibition. Courts have rejected lawsuits brought by media organizations seeking broader public access to executions.
The plan to livestream the execution comes at a time of heightened debate in the US over the death penalty following the botched lethal injection last week of a Tennessee woman who was sentenced to death for a 1995 murder. The controversy has flared in the run-up to the November 3 US midterm elections in which Republicans are fighting to retain control of Congress.
Republican opposition widens to livestreamed execution; Trump still weighing it — Reuters
Republican US lawmakers joined religious leaders and international observers on Friday in opposing a Pentagon plan to livestream an execution by firing squad, while President Donald Trump said he has not yet decided whether to allow the live feed.
Public executions are rare globally and officially banned or restricted in the vast majority of countries, though a small number of nations continue the practice, and specific military or high-profile cases occasionally spark debate.
Global Status of Public Executions
• Few Countries Allow Them: According to human rights organizations like Amnesty International, only a small number of countries have carried out judicial public executions in recent years.
• Known Locations: Public executions have been documented in countries such as Iran (often carried out in public squares using construction cranes) and Taliban-led Afghanistan (frequently held in sports stadiums). Periodic public or semi-public actions have also been reported or criticized in places like Saudi Arabia and North Korea.
• Historical Shift: Most of the world abolished public executions during the 19th and 20th centuries (with the UK ending them in 1868 and France in 1939), moving executions behind prison walls to private settings.
The Situation in the United States
• Longstanding Ban: The U.S. has not held a traditional public execution in nearly a century; the last recorded public hanging took place in Missouri in 1937.
• Recent Military Case / Livestream Proposal: The Pentagon announced plans for the execution of former Army Major Nidal Hasan (convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting) by firing squad, with officials discussing a public livestream. Legal experts note this type of public or broadcast execution would break with decades of standard American legal practice.
Global Status of Public Executions
• Few Countries Allow Them: According to human rights organizations like Amnesty International, only a small number of countries have carried out judicial public executions in recent years.
• Known Locations: Public executions have been documented in countries such as Iran (often carried out in public squares using construction cranes) and Taliban-led Afghanistan (frequently held in sports stadiums). Periodic public or semi-public actions have also been reported or criticized in places like Saudi Arabia and North Korea.
• Historical Shift: Most of the world abolished public executions during the 19th and 20th centuries (with the UK ending them in 1868 and France in 1939), moving executions behind prison walls to private settings.
The Situation in the United States
• Longstanding Ban: The U.S. has not held a traditional public execution in nearly a century; the last recorded public hanging took place in Missouri in 1937.
• Recent Military Case / Livestream Proposal: The Pentagon announced plans for the execution of former Army Major Nidal Hasan (convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting) by firing squad, with officials discussing a public livestream. Legal experts note this type of public or broadcast execution would break with decades of standard American legal practice.
Even Mike Johnson Recoils Over Plan for Livestreamed Execution — The New Republic
The House speaker is breaking with Donald Trump’s top advisers on this.
Trump's homeland security chief defends public execution of wheelchair-bound murderer — Daily Mail
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plans to publicly execute Nidal Hasan.
Trump privately casting doubt on Hegseth’s plan for execution livestream: report — The Independent
President Donald Trump has privately expressed reservations about live-streaming the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. Trump has privately said that the public broadcast “might not happen,” an unnamed ally told Axios.
University of Colorado professor emeritus Michael Radelet, a long-time scholar of capital punishment, was shocked. With Hegseth's announcement, Radelet said, "the justification for the death penalty becomes entertainment... bring your popcorn, invite your friends".
The debate over Hegseth's surprise announcement appeared to be playing out within the White House on Friday, once Trump got to see some polling, that nobody does or responds to, before an election that he doesn’t care about ‘cuz he’s not running for election, etc…
US Vice-President JD Vance expressed uncertainty to reporters about whether the public execution would go ahead as planned and said he would not watch it if it were livestreamed unless it was grainy, and took place on a boat in international waters being blown up by a Hellfire missile from a Reaper drone.
Hours later, US President Donald Trump said he "absolutely" approved of the livestream plan but that the Pentagon was still "making a determination" on it?
Public executions in the US stopped nearly a century ago - why are they resuming now? — BBC News
The Pentagon says the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed, but experts suggest officials are reading the country wrong.