Pete Hegseth’s Firing Squad Livestream Is Finding Fans in the Defense Industry
“I have been outspoken on wanting public executions for over a decade.” So said Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Anduril Industries, a military technology company that sells autonomous drones and software to the Defense Department, Customs and Border Protection, and militaries abroad in a vocal defense of “public and brutal” executions in general, and Defense […]
Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril Industries, a military technology firm, has been advocating for public executions for the past decade. When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the livestreaming of Nidal Malik Hasan's execution, a Fort Hood murderer, Luckey defended the decision, arguing that executions should be public and brutal to discourage such acts.
Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, is now paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by police. Luckey's stance is supported by George Washington, who authorized public executions to enforce discipline. However, experts like Jim Craig, a veteran Mississippi death penalty attorney, and Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, argue that public executions can cause unnecessary harm.
While Trump has expressed doubts about broadcasting the execution, opposition to the livestream has been bipartisan. Critics claim that non-public executions could be seen as fascist, reminiscent of oppressive dictatorships.
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