Mental health professionals have issued warnings that a planned public livestream of a capital punishment execution could induce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in viewers. The concern arises after US authorities confirmed the decision to broadcast the death by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, a former army psychiatrist responsible for killing 13 unarmed service members at Fort Hood in 2009.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday that Hasan is scheduled to be executed on December 3. Government officials subsequently verified that the event would be streamed live, marking what is believed to be the first publicly accessible execution in the United States in nearly a century.
PTSD from watching a firing squad? Absolutely. But frankly, I’m more traumatized that we are treating this as legitimate news coverage.
Wait, did the article say this is the first public execution in nearly a century? That number feels suspiciously low for US history.
This is profoundly disturbing. Normalizing state execution through live media seems morally bankrupt and potentially illegal under medical ethics.