Age of viral violence |
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| Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Finn Gomez/Getty Images |
| Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the Fort Hood shooter’s execution will be livestreamed reflects a shift toward putting raw, real-world violence on display for unlimited audiences, Axios’ Neal Rothschild and Herb Scribner write. Why it matters: The Trump administration has made a show of flexing American power, sometimes with grisly footage. Now, it’s preparing to make the government’s ultimate punishment available for all to see. The big picture: Americans are increasingly encountering shocking images on their phones, often without warning. Graphic footage of Charlie Kirk’s assassination spread instantly to social media users, including young ones. Since Oct. 7, 2023, footage from the Hamas attacks and Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has circulated online. Some videos have spread from Telegram to social platforms like X, where clips are easy to find. Footage of the August 2025 killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train went viral across X, stirring debate about crime and public safety. President Trump later said he had watched the video and wished he hadn’t. A livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution would be the first known public broadcast of a lawful execution, according to death penalty experts interviewed by Reuters. Public executions are increasingly rare worldwide. In recent years, most have taken place in Iran and Taliban-run Afghanistan, according to Amnesty International. Trump told reporters he had approved the decision to livestream the execution. But Vice President Vance told reporters yesterday: “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen … So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people … Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.” Keep reading. |
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Age of viral violence