# Televised execution **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 12, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786 "2026-10-12T18:59:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/101 "2026-10-14T04:33:08Z")
The other thing I find somewhat bizarre (but not really, it’d require Hegseth to know something about actual military culture) in this whole grotesque monstrosity is that the execution is going to be by firing squad rather than hanging. A firing squad is “honorable” for military executions, while hanging isn’t. Which is why those convicted at the Nurnberg and Tokyo war crimes trial were hung and requests for execution by firing squad were denied. Maybe the thought of hanging a man in a wheelchair was too much for even Kegsbreath. But then again, considering how insane of a Christian nationalist he is, I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t announced the corpse will be wrapped in pork before burial to really give it to the Muslims. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/102 "2026-10-14T08:51:45Z")
Historically, there was a strange hierarchy in execution methods, at least in Europe. Hanging was the lowest, most humiliating form of execution (except perhaps for burning at the stake), intended for common scum; the firing squad was slightly more reputable, intended for soldiers and other fighters; while beheading was reserved for nobles and kings. By changing Hasan’s execution method from hanging to shooting, Trump is actually giving him a more “respectable” death. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/103 "2026-10-14T09:09:41Z")
Firing squad does _feel_ more viscerably noble, IMO. If I were to ever find myself in such a situation, I’d like to think that (instead of crying and shitting myself which is probably what would realistically happen) I’d refuse a blindfold and demand that my executioners look me in the eye when they pull the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/104 "2026-10-14T11:23:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’d refuse a blindfold and demand that my executioners look me in the eye when they pull the trigger. Supposedly, Mata Hari refused a blindfold and when see blew her executions a kiss, one of them fainted. Might be an UL. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/105 "2026-10-14T11:57:44Z")
Which would have required her hands to be free to reach her face. Not highly likely. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/106 "2026-10-14T12:33:12Z")
I seem to remember some rhetoric from the maladministration about “letting the punishment fit the crime”. He shot some people so he should be shot, so that’s why they are choosing firing squad. For those who are surprised that America would embrace such brutality, should recall that a few decades ago the whole town would come together to string up a mutilate an uppity negro. That part of America’s id that relishes the suffering of those deemed undesirable went underground but didn’t go away. Trump just made it socially acceptable again. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/107 "2026-10-14T12:44:42Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > a few decades ago the whole town would come together to string up a mutilate an uppity negro. That part of America’s id that relishes the suffering of those deemed undesirable went underground but didn’t go away. Trump just made it socially acceptable again. Exactly. Public executions (whether lynchings or legal) used to be parties. There are always going to be people (as long as we’re really this species) who enjoy killing other people. Some societies encourage this. Some discourage it. I strongly prefer being part of a society which discourages it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/108 "2026-10-14T13:45:26Z")
Maybe they’ll mount him on a horse and hang him and the horse simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/109 "2026-10-14T22:26:51Z")
Hang his wheelchair? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/110 "2026-10-14T22:31:27Z")
I wonder if Hegseth knew that he was on a wheelchair when he first came up with the whole public execution idea? My guess is that he did not, but when he found out he pretended it didn’t matter so as not to embarrass himself. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/111 "2026-10-14T22:32:59Z")
Honestly, I’m not sure the wheelchair _should_ matter. Either way, he’s a sitting duck. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/112 "2026-10-14T23:04:39Z")
There is a history of firing squads shooting people in chairs. The last person executed in the Tower of London was shot sitting down, due to a leg injury (he was a German spy who broke his ankle parachuting into Britain). > **[Josef Jakobs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Jakobs)** > > Josef Jakobs (30 June 1898 – 15 August 1941) was a German spy and the last person to be executed at the Tower of London. He was captured shortly after parachuting into the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Convicted of espionage under the Treachery Act 1940, Jakobs was sentenced to death and shot by a military firing squad. He was not hanged since he was captured as an enemy combatant. Jakobs, who was a German citizen, was born in Luxembourg in 1898. During the First World War, he serv... ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/113 "2026-10-14T23:25:09Z")
I doubt they would make him stand even if he could. It’s easier to immobilize a seated person. FWIW, Gary Gilmore was shot seated. The Breaker Morant guys were also seated, if the movie is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/114 "2026-10-15T02:03:42Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > Maybe the thought of hanging a man in a wheelchair was too much for even Kegsbreath. Too Mel Brooks. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786/115 "2026-10-15T05:23:57Z")
Bear in mind that Cpl. Melvin Brooks, 1104th Engineer Combat Battalion, was more of a soldier than Hegseth could ever dream of being. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/televised-execution/1033786.md?page=5)