The Trump administration, per Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, says it plans to live-stream the execution-by-firing squad of a soldier convicted in a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009.
The office of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., sent out a statement from the senator on the news on Friday.
The Fort Hood shooting was a horrific act of violence that took 13 innocent lives and devastated military families. The perpetrator was convicted and sentenced to death, and nothing changes the gravity of his crimes. But there is a fundamental difference between carrying out a lawful sentence and turning an execution into a public spectacle.
Public executions are the hallmark of authoritarian regimes like Iran and North Korea, not the United States of America. There is a reason that almost no countries in the world engage in this barbaric practice. Beyond the profound moral concerns, a public execution could hand terrorist organizations a propaganda victory, fuel radicalization, and put American service members, diplomats, and citizens overseas at greater risk. Justice for the victims does not require creating unnecessary threats to our national security.
Unfortunately, this is part of a much broader pattern. From proposing public executions to threatening to interfere in our elections, President Trump continues to challenge the principles and practices that distinguish America from authoritarian regimes.
With the election just weeks away, I am particularly concerned about his willingness to abuse the powers of the federal government to interfere with how Americans cast their ballots and how those votes are counted. Free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy, and we cannot allow the United States to go down the path of countries where those in power decide whether and how elections take place.
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Chris Graham
