1. United States
2. S.C.
3. Letter

I'm writing because I'm angry and disturbed by the Department of Defense's plan to publicly broadcast the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan. I'm asking you to oppose it. To be clear, I'm not defending Hasan or downplaying what he did. The people killed at Fort Hood and their families deserve justice, and they deserve to be remembered with dignity. But justice and turning someone's death into a public spectacle are not the same thing. This country stopped holding public executions a long time ago, and for good reason. We decided that putting a person's death on display, whether as punishment, a warning, or entertainment, cheapens all of us. Going back to it now wouldn't be a show of strength. It would be giving up on restraint. I still remember how the country reacted when ISIS released the videos of James Foley and Steven Sotloff being murdered. Those killings were staged for an audience, meant to terrify people and show power through suffering. We rightly called that barbaric. I'm not saying a lawful sentence is the same as a terrorist murder. It isn't. But I can't square condemning our enemies for turning killing into a public display and then doing something similar ourselves. The legal circumstances are very different. The idea of using a death to make a public statement is what bothers me, no matter who's doing it. I also think about what this teaches kids. Do we want them to learn that the government leads with dignity and restraint, or that cruelty is fine as long as the person on the receiving end deserves it? Children could easily end up seeing this. The footage would circulate on social media and get clipped, shared, and watched like any other video. I don't want that to become normal. The argument that broadcasting an execution shows American strength doesn't hold up for me. A country's strength isn't just its ability to punish people. It's also the principles it holds onto, even when dealing with someone who did something terrible. I'm asking you to publicly oppose this plan, to press the Department of Defense to drop any plan to livestream or broadcast the execution, and to support legislation that keeps public executions from becoming accepted practice. This isn't about party, and it isn't about whether you support the death penalty. It's about what kind of country we want to be and what example we set. We can't credibly say we stand against barbarism while bringing back one of its rituals. I'd appreciate a response letting me know where you stand and what you plan to do about this.