Public hangings
I have seen two videos of hangings in my life.
The first video I saw as when I was a kid. In 1989, KTLA ran a story about a Marine who was captured by a terrorist group in Lebanon. They played the video of Lieut. Col. William R. Higgins hanged. It’s been almost 30 years and I still feel sad and disturb by this. I don’t know why the news thought it was a good idea to run this video. They did it all throughout the day. My parents called the station, as did other parents. It was gruesome. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/01/world/group-beirut-says-it-hanged-us-colonel-2d-threat-issued-bush-convenes-security.html
The second video I saw was Saddam Hussein. This was a public execution due to his crimes against humanity. This was something I should not have seen. Unlike the other video, this was my choice to watch it and I regret doing so.
Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith was recorded as saying that she’d be “on the front row” if one of her supporters “invited me to a public hanging.” Reference- (https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/politics/mississippi-senate-runoff-election/index.html). She and her supporters claims that public hangings are not the same as public lynchings. Lynchings were horrible acts of violence committed against people of color. They support the death penalty, not race crimes.
If we take Ms. Hyde-Smith (and her supporters) at face value, I consider them monsters. Hanging is a barbaric act. This group of people is okay with killing someone out in the open? How are they different than terrorist groups who beheads soldiers and journalists? How are they different than drawn and quarter criminals for entertainment? Committing and showcasing vicious acts of death is vile and disturbing. It is the lack of compassion and delighting in vulgarity that bothers me. I am horrified that this is where we are as a society.