The U.S. last held a public execution in the 1930s. The Pentagon wants to change that

The Pentagon says it will livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, the site of his 2009 mass shooting. That would be the first public execution in the U.S. since the 1930s.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2424+0+0/resize/3000x2424!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdf%2Ff8%2F534d592e4c20a62c07112b8cc7a6%2Fgettyimages-808644.jpg' alt='A huge crowd gathers to witness the public hanging of Rainey Bethea in 1936 in Owensboro, Kentucky. Public outrage over the spectacle made Bethea's death the last high-profile public execution in the United States. The Pentagon wants to livestream the firing squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter.'/><p>The Pentagon says it will livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, the site of his 2009 mass shooting. That would be the first public execution in the U.S. since the 1930s.</p><p>(Image credit: Getty Images)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5996529' />