Watching barbaric firing squad execution might ‘traumatise and trigger PTSD’ in viewers
Mental health experts have unsurprisingly come out strongly against watching the livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution, advising it could cause ‘PTSD’
Nidal Hasan gunned down 13 defenceless people and injured more than 30 others (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Watching the sickening livestreamed firing squad execution later this year may cause PTSD, doctors have claimed. Nidal Hasan – the former army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 – is set to be executed by firing squad on December 3, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed yesterday (October 9).
Officials later confirmed it would be livestreamed – which hasn’t happened in the US in almost a century. Hegseth said: “It was a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks, and so he’s going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
The grim attack happened in 2009(Image: Getty Images)
Experts have chimed in on this Black Mirror-esque decision for the US to broadcast a killing – unsurprisingly, it could make for traumatic viewing.
Forensic psychologist at the University of Nottingham Dr Simon Duff said studies examining journalists’ experiences of witnessing such violence suggested evidence of trauma response.
“Certainly if people are not resilient they probably shouldn’t [watch], but if they have some underlying psychological driver towards viewing an execution they will likely do so regardless of the potential for harm,” Duff told the Guardian.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced the decision to livestream the event (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“Recent events suggest that executions do not always go to plan,” he added, speaking about the recent botched execution of Christa Pike. “That possibility needs to be acknowledged, and the likelihood that this would increase the trauma for viewers.”
When asked if Hasan had made any final requests or contacted the Trump administration, Hegseth simply responded: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3rd.”
Further details are set to be released regarding the execution livestream. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell stated on Monday that President Donald Trump had authorised Hasan’s execution, but didn’t mention if the Orange Manbaby had signed off on the televised aspect.
Retired Staff Sgt, Alonzo Lunsford told America’s Newsroom he will be observing the execution of the officer who fired at him 15 years ago.
Lunsford said: “You live by the sword, you die by the sword. And the way that he went about doing his deed was a coward’s way because we didn’t have any way to defend ourselves that day.”
In 2009 Hasan gunned down 13 US soldiers in Fort Hood and injured more than 30 others.
