Trump revives Tyburn for Hasan execution, minus the pictures
Donald Trump has dropped plans to stream Nidal Hasan's execution, so his staff have found a format with no pictures.
The White House will release the execution of Nidal Hasan as a three-episode podcast, officials confirmed on Wednesday. The move follows Donald Trump's decision to cancel a livestream after global condemnation. Audio, they note, is not a visual device.
Trump said many good people "would rather not watch him die". He said nothing about listening. Staff read the post three times, found the gap and booked a studio.
Britain moved hangings indoors in 1868 because the crowds at Newgate were enjoying themselves too visibly. Kentucky held a public one in 1936 and the picnic atmosphere embarrassed the state for decades. Each time the lesson was learned and filed, and each time somebody found it again, blew off the dust and asked whether the real problem was the format.
"Nobody has to see anything," a White House official said. "The world can witness deterrence while doing the dishes. Episode one is mostly context."
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 and will still be put to death by firing squad. The sentence has not changed. Only the distribution deal has.
Episodes two and three will be shorter. There is, officials admit, not a great deal of plot.
