Boycott the live streaming of the Fort Hood shooter's execution
The Issue
TL;DR: SIGNING THIS PETITION IS A PLEDGE TO BOYCOTT AND NOT WATCH THE LIVE-STREAMED EXECUTION.
ABOUT THE PETITION
On December 3, the Army will execute Nidal Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood, the same post where, in 2009, he killed 13 people and wounded more than 30. It will be the first military execution in more than sixty years.
An execution is not entertainment. It is the state taking a life, and whatever you believe about whether it should, that act deserves solemnity, not a watch party. We've been here before. Public hangings used to be town events, with food vendors and children lifted onto shoulders for a better view. We moved executions behind walls for a reason. Streaming one would walk us right back into the crowd.
The body keeps what it watches. The American Psychological Association has linked repeated exposure to violent media with more aggression and less empathy. Desensitization doesn't announce itself. It forms the way a callus does, one small friction at a time, until we can't feel what we used to.
This will not make America better. This will give children access to view violence and will continue our downward spiral to a lack of a rule of law. And the idea that this will prevent crime is incredibly doubtful --it's likely to be used as anti-American propaganda across our enemies, and make us less safe.
So I'm asking you to join me
I'm not asking you to agree with me about the death penalty.
I'm asking you to agree that a death shouldn't be a show.
BI-PARTISAN COMMENTS AGAINST THIS LIVE-STREAMED PUBLIC EXECUTION:
Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting. Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America. (Republican Sen. Thom Tillis)
“In Trump’s America, we’re doing public executions now. WTF. This is what happens under brutal dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan. It’s all part of Trump’s authoritarian takeover of the United States.” (Yassamin Ansari, the first Iranian American Democrat elected)
OTHER NOTABLE FACTS / OPINIONS & PERSPECTIVES
Public executions have largely disappeared around the world. Amnesty International recorded at least 17 in 2025, including 11 in Iran and six in Taliban-run Afghanistan. (Source)
"Public executions lay the foundation for an increase in violence."
.... a public execution will have public consequences. Amnesty International found that those who watch public executions, including children, are brutalized and degraded. Research found that between 1907–63, in New York State, there were, on the average, two additional homicides in the month after every execution, and these were not even public executions, but ones reported in the news. Oklahoma's return to capital punishment in 1990, after a 25 year moratorium, was followed by a significant increase in killings involving strangers. Arizona's first execution in more than 29 years led to increases in several types of homicides.
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The Issue
TL;DR: SIGNING THIS PETITION IS A PLEDGE TO BOYCOTT AND NOT WATCH THE LIVE-STREAMED EXECUTION.
ABOUT THE PETITION
On December 3, the Army will execute Nidal Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood, the same post where, in 2009, he killed 13 people and wounded more than 30. It will be the first military execution in more than sixty years.
An execution is not entertainment. It is the state taking a life, and whatever you believe about whether it should, that act deserves solemnity, not a watch party. We've been here before. Public hangings used to be town events, with food vendors and children lifted onto shoulders for a better view. We moved executions behind walls for a reason. Streaming one would walk us right back into the crowd.
The body keeps what it watches. The American Psychological Association has linked repeated exposure to violent media with more aggression and less empathy. Desensitization doesn't announce itself. It forms the way a callus does, one small friction at a time, until we can't feel what we used to.
This will not make America better. This will give children access to view violence and will continue our downward spiral to a lack of a rule of law. And the idea that this will prevent crime is incredibly doubtful --it's likely to be used as anti-American propaganda across our enemies, and make us less safe.
So I'm asking you to join me
I'm not asking you to agree with me about the death penalty.
I'm asking you to agree that a death shouldn't be a show.
BI-PARTISAN COMMENTS AGAINST THIS LIVE-STREAMED PUBLIC EXECUTION:
Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting. Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America. (Republican Sen. Thom Tillis)
“In Trump’s America, we’re doing public executions now. WTF. This is what happens under brutal dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan. It’s all part of Trump’s authoritarian takeover of the United States.” (Yassamin Ansari, the first Iranian American Democrat elected)
OTHER NOTABLE FACTS / OPINIONS & PERSPECTIVES
Public executions have largely disappeared around the world. Amnesty International recorded at least 17 in 2025, including 11 in Iran and six in Taliban-run Afghanistan. (Source)
"Public executions lay the foundation for an increase in violence."
.... a public execution will have public consequences. Amnesty International found that those who watch public executions, including children, are brutalized and degraded. Research found that between 1907–63, in New York State, there were, on the average, two additional homicides in the month after every execution, and these were not even public executions, but ones reported in the news. Oklahoma's return to capital punishment in 1990, after a 25 year moratorium, was followed by a significant increase in killings involving strangers. Arizona's first execution in more than 29 years led to increases in several types of homicides.
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Petition created on October 9, 2026