r/AskLEO • u/Big-Weather123 • 5d ago
General Thoughts on the Public Execution of the Fort Hood Shooter?
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u/justletyoursoulglooo 5d ago
Not a LEO but I work in a support capacity for a prominent PD.
The reason we as a people should not want publicly televised executions is because only dictatorships and barbarians do that. You can throw the cartels in that group too. It works great if you plan on controlling the populace through fear and intimidation. If you want to be respected in your community, it does not work great.
Secondly, this video will be distributed everywhere, including to the populations of countries that hate us. People will lie about this video and say that the man was executed simply for being Muslim. Thousands more Muslims will grow up to hate us and wish death to us because of this video. Which will endanger the lives of our soldiers overseas (even more than they already are) as well as put our LEO at more risk of other lone wolf attacker scenarios simply because there is bound to be at least a few people already in the states who get pissed off at the government for publicly televising an execution.
Nobody is arguing the man shouldn't die for his crimes, that case has been settled. Doing it in a public manner does not help anyone except make a small percentage of the populace happy that they get to watch a man get shot to death as punishment for his crimes.
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u/Adept_Contribution33 5d ago
Simple reason why it is being done?
To desensitize the public to more horrible violence.
The complex reason?
Everything that has happen until THIS MOMENT should for all reasons, have caused riots, protest, something.
But nope just "keep your head down it will be over soon"
I have not once trusted that.
No one should.
Yes it is more complex than this, and they are drawing the light away from the files.
BUT
That is just a bonus.
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u/HCSOThrowaway Fired Deputy - Explanation in Profile 5d ago
Grotesque, bizarre, and with little practical value - arguably to the point of being Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
The biggest real impact will be that we are showing our ass to the world, whose respect for us is plummeting.
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u/OilEnvironmental442 5d ago
i don't think public executions are the answer tbh they just make us all complicit in the violence
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u/AZULDEFILER 5d ago
No one is forced to watch it
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u/KingAdamXVII 5d ago
What makes you think this is a reasonable comment? Is it that you are ok with the government sponsoring this sort of depravity as long as no one is being strapped down in front of it with their eyes glued open? Or do you just not think public executions are depraved?
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5d ago
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u/Revolution37 5d ago
This is a good point.
Maybe we should make this more like drag shows and. But then we’d have to have a whole month dedicated to public executions, and have corporations sell out defending public executions, and cancel/dox people who don’t blindly support public executions.
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u/Gold-Amount-168 5d ago
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u/pluck-the-bunny 4d ago
if drag turns kids gay, then why do gay people come from schools where its not allowed?
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u/pluck-the-bunny 4d ago
but people without the psychological or emotional capacity to process it WILL watch it.
Also even for the people that CHOOSE to watch it, its disgusting to find entertainment in the death of someone else.
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u/Sufficient-Ad-3586 5d ago
Stupid,
Public executions by firing squad nontheless is some third world dictatorship shit. It reflects very poorly on the US as a whole, theres a reason they stopped doing that.
Anyone of us on here who has seen someone die or found dead bodies on the job know that seeing that sticks with you for life and messes with you, we dont need a video going live for the whole public to see that shit, especially since kids will probably see it as well.
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u/5usDomesticus 5d ago
Wounded victims should get first dibs.
I honestly don't care one way or another. I'm completely fine with firing squads.
Also remember that he was a soldier who killed other soldiers on an Army base. He's under UCMJ, not normal criminal law. They can do what they want. You volunteer for this when you join.
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u/ExpiredPilot 4d ago
There is no justifiable reason to publicize state-sanctioned violence
It’s not a deterrent for future crimes. All it does is desensitize people to violence. And not in a “oh video games rot your brain” way. This is literally the federal government screaming “we celebrate the deaths of those who do us wrong”
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u/CashEducational4986 3d ago
I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. On one hand the public wants every single action taken by any government official to be recorded at all times anyway, and for most of human history executions were public events. On the other hand it seems a little strange in modern times to be celebrating it and making it into a big spectacle.
I also don't really see what this post has to do with law enforcement officers, or why any of our opinions would particularly matter.
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u/Big-Weather123 3d ago
It's a serious development in criminal justice so I believe it's relevant in that respect.
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u/harley97797997 4d ago
I find this entire debate interesting. The people who constantly call for government transparency, who do noy trust government, who care more about criminals than victims, are the same ones upset about this being live streamed.
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u/Moist_Ad_655 4d ago
Thing is bonkers and I hope it’s some weird Trump trolling comment and not legitimate. Trumps turning into the mad king from GoT apparently. This is something Kim Jong Un would do if they actually had internet over there.
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u/ResponsibilityOk6437 1d ago
Not to go all history buff here, but the world changed during the Vietnam War. All of a sudden, the reality and brutality of war were brought in to the living room television set of the everyday American.
I fear that if we start televising executions, we’re exposing the ugly side of the criminal justice system, and the underbelly that most prefer to let us deal with.
I see both sides, but I just don’t think it’s wise.
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u/FamiliarAd8524 5d ago
I want the firing squad to use the Bradley's M242 Bushmaster 25mm autocannon. When the shooting happened, we had a few hundred there.
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u/NoirConfidential 5d ago
I love it. They should toss his body in a dumpster when they’re done. Zero respect shown to terrorists.
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u/FamiliarAd8524 5d ago
I also think it should be called off ten minutes \before. Then rescheduled, and cancelled five minutes before, every time POTUS changes his mind. Say, about thirty-five to forty schedulings before it finally happens. Suck every last bit of excitement from Hassan's mind about the day finally arriving.
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u/Enough_Wallaby7064 5d ago
Maybe the public needs to see something like this and maybe it'll actually do something to stop would be mass shooters.
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u/MediumSizeMoose 5d ago
Not a single mass shooter has been afraid of being killed, in fact, most plan on it. This will deter no one and will more likely encourage more zealots who want publicity for their cause.
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u/Jballzs13 5d ago
I don’t know that it should be streamed but then at the same time i think it’s something people need exposure to to an extent. People just don’t seem to respect justice or fear the system anymore.
When i was young i was terrified to think i could goto prison. Now i see videos on instagram of dudes in jail with cell phones and living better than some people that are free.
Sometimes you gotta put the fear and respect back into the people.
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u/Potential_Payment557 5d ago
Nobody will be forced to watch. Sends a great message to anybody thinking about committing the same crime in the future.
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u/pluck-the-bunny 4d ago
it will likely make him a martyr in the eyes of some..likely increase the likelihood of it happening again
and people who dont have the intellectual/emotional capacity to see it WILL see it.
It will be a net detriment,
Its a BAD idea to televise it.
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u/JimmyGymGym1 5d ago
I have no problem with the execution itself but the public execution (and maybe even televised!) is something I wouldn’t expect of the country I love.