# Execution TV: Is this a turning point for Trump’s America?

An episode of [7am](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1461999702), 13 Oct 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/2544644999/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/62723a1f-3e96-4fc4-882c-b25e0181da4d/42098748-bc9e-42c8-aefc-b4e200515680/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=70f29d90-2a63-48aa-bf8f-b25e0181da70

In 2009, US Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan opened fire on fellow soldiers and civilians at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 32. He was sentenced to death in 2013 for the attack, which he described as an act of jihad. Now the Trump administration has scheduled his execution by firing squad for December 3. And Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says he wants the public to watch via livestream. It’s the latest example of an administration willing to put its use of deadly force on display – from sharing videos of boats being blown up in the Caribbean, to turning military strikes on Iran into social media content. So why is the US so determined to show off its military muscle? Today, journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, on the growing spectacle of American state violence – and what happens when killing becomes something to watch and celebrate. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Execution by firing squad. Army major betrays his country. Radical
[0:06] Speaker 1: Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood. Of
[0:08] Speaker 1: course we're going to do it at Fort Hood. We're
[0:10] Speaker 1: going to do it on a Thursday. We're going to
[0:11] Speaker 1: do it at one o'clock, which is when he did it.
[0:13] Speaker 1: And it's going to be soldiers with rifles executing the
[0:16] Speaker 1: firing squad.
[0:17] Speaker 2: In 2009, U.S. Army psychiatrist Nadal Hassan opened fire on
[0:22] Speaker 2: fellow soldiers and civilians at the Fort Hood military base
[0:25] Speaker 2: in Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 32. He was
[0:31] Speaker 2: sentenced to death in 2013 for the attack, which he
[0:34] Speaker 2: described as an act of jihad. Now, the Trump administration
[0:38] Speaker 2: has scheduled his execution by firing squad for December 3rd.
[0:43] Speaker 2: And Secretary of War Pete Hegzeth says he wants the
[0:46] Speaker 2: public to watch via livestream.
[0:49] Speaker 1: We know what it is. It was a radical Islamist
[0:50] Speaker 1: attack in uniform inside the ranks. And so he's going
[0:53] Speaker 1: to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be.
[0:55] Speaker 1: And we'll make sure that people are able to watch it,
[0:58] Speaker 1: that it's public, because people need to understand that there's
[1:02] Speaker 1: serious consequences for these.
[1:04] Speaker 3: Types of things.
[1:05] Speaker 2: It's the latest example of an administration willing to put
[1:08] Speaker 2: its use of deadly force on display, from sharing videos
[1:12] Speaker 2: of boats being blown up in the Caribbean to turning
[1:14] Speaker 2: military strikes on Iran into social media content. So why
[1:19] Speaker 2: is the US so determined to show off its military muscle?
[1:23] Speaker 2: I'm Tina Quinn, filling in for Ruby Jones, and you're
[1:26] Speaker 2: listening to 7am. Today, journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin on
[1:31] Speaker 2: the growing spectacle of American state violence... And what happens
[1:35] Speaker 2: when killing becomes something to watch and celebrate? It's Wednesday,
[1:43] Speaker 2: October 14. So, Abby, this is the first Death by
[1:51] Speaker 2: Firing Squad since World War II, the first to be live-streamed.
[1:55] Speaker 2: Even for a country more comfortable with the death penalty
[1:58] Speaker 2: than Australia is, it's a lot.
[2:00] Speaker 4: So....
[2:02] Speaker 2: How are Americans reacting to this idea, particularly in the
[2:06] Speaker 2: wake of the botched execution of Krista Pike in Tennessee
[2:10] Speaker 2: just days ago?
[2:11] Speaker 3: I mean, you know, as you mentioned, this was a
[2:13] Speaker 3: botched execution. This was supposedly the humane clinical way to
[2:17] Speaker 3: execute someone. And I think Americans are seeing that the
[2:20] Speaker 3: state isn't even capable of doing that. So while Americans
[2:24] Speaker 3: are reckoning with something really grotesque and horrifying that happened
[2:27] Speaker 3: mere weeks ago, the Pentagon responds by basically saying, we
[2:30] Speaker 3: want to make America medieval again. And just go straight
[2:34] Speaker 3: to a firing squad akin to, you know, the days
[2:38] Speaker 3: of like the Roman Empire. I mean, it's really insane.
[2:40] Speaker 3: I mean, I think there's a contingent of Trump cultists
[2:42] Speaker 3: who obviously revel in this kind of fascistic mentality. And
[2:46] Speaker 3: that's very apparent how common that kind of rhetoric and
[2:51] Speaker 3: mentality is. But I think the broad... scope of American society.
[2:56] Speaker 3: I think the vast majority of people are absolutely repulsed
[3:00] Speaker 3: by this. There's a reason why almost every single country
[3:03] Speaker 3: in the world has banned public executions, and the ones
[3:06] Speaker 3: that still allow it obviously ban video coverage of it.
[3:10] Speaker 3: So there's something really sadistic and depraved about taking it
[3:13] Speaker 3: to this level.
[3:15] Speaker 2: What do you think they're trying to achieve by making
[3:17] Speaker 2: this a public event? I mean, Pete Hegseth, he doesn't
[3:20] Speaker 2: simply want Nadal Hassan executed. He wants soldiers to do it.
[3:24] Speaker 2: at the very same military base where Hassan carried out
[3:27] Speaker 2: the attack. And this wanting the public to watch, I mean,
[3:32] Speaker 2: what are they trying to achieve here by making this
[3:34] Speaker 2: so public and live streaming this, do you think?
[3:37] Speaker 3: I mean, I think it's the nature of the spectacle itself.
[3:39] Speaker 3: It's maximizing the impact of it being a sensational event
[3:44] Speaker 3: that is essentially entertainment, wanting to pull people into the
[3:47] Speaker 3: darkness that he himself revels in. clearly sending a message
[3:51] Speaker 3: to his political enemies, you know, that he's basically deemed
[3:54] Speaker 3: anyone who's a leftist, a socialist, an immigrant. I mean,
[3:58] Speaker 3: the list goes on and on that this is your warning.
[4:01] Speaker 3: This is a threat against you if you don't just
[4:03] Speaker 3: bow to the dictates of the Pentagon and these maniacs.
[4:07] Speaker 2: Trump is still deciding whether to backheg Zeth and make
[4:10] Speaker 2: this execution public. But the U.S. does have quite a
[4:14] Speaker 2: long history of showing the public images of its enemies
[4:17] Speaker 2: being killed, particularly during the war on terror. We saw
[4:20] Speaker 2: the Pentagon display the body of al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab
[4:23] Speaker 2: al-Sakawi in 2006. And more recently, Donald Trump graphically described
[4:29] Speaker 2: the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
[4:31] Speaker 1: And he died in a vicious and violent way, running
[4:35] Speaker 1: and crying.
[4:36] Speaker 3: He died like a dog. He died like a coward.
[4:40] Speaker 2: Does it feel like the U.S. has been moving towards
[4:43] Speaker 2: something like this for quite a long time now?
[4:45] Speaker 3: Yes, I mean, you know, under the war on terror,
[4:48] Speaker 3: I feel like this kind of anesthetization of death and
[4:52] Speaker 3: brutality has been commonplace. I mean, we've seen it from afar, right?
[4:56] Speaker 3: These drone strikes that are published on CENTCOM, essentially snuff
[4:59] Speaker 3: videos of people being killed via drone, but there's always
[5:02] Speaker 3: this kind of, you know, removal from seeing someone be
[5:05] Speaker 3: blown up, from seeing someone be publicly murdered in front
[5:09] Speaker 3: of you. There's always this kind of night vision, this
[5:12] Speaker 3: realm of, you know, you don't actually see the emotions
[5:15] Speaker 3: on someone's face. This is completely different. This is such
[5:19] Speaker 3: an insane escalation. We've been watching genocide with Gaza and
[5:23] Speaker 3: beyond and this kind of level of impunity around this
[5:26] Speaker 3: livestream genocide, that this does seem like some sort of
[5:29] Speaker 3: natural culmination once we've allowed the U.S. empire and its collaborator, Israel,
[5:34] Speaker 3: to get away with these kind of rapidity and scale
[5:36] Speaker 3: and scope of the atrocities that it has been. So
[5:39] Speaker 3: why not a public execution?
[5:41] Speaker 2: It does seem to have changed under Trump, though. I mean,
[5:44] Speaker 2: we've seen the White House release footage of its attacks
[5:47] Speaker 2: on Iran, mixed with scenes from video games and Hollywood
[5:50] Speaker 2: movies and even SpongeBob SquarePants. I mean, what's the effect
[5:53] Speaker 2: of presenting real military violence in that way, do you think?
[5:57] Speaker 3: Completely desensitizing and making it into a spectacle. I mean,
[6:01] Speaker 3: completely blurring the lines of reality and entertainment. It's a
[6:05] Speaker 3: reality show for these people. Look at Donald Trump. He's
[6:08] Speaker 3: a reality star. And then you have Pete Hegseth, who's
[6:11] Speaker 3: essentially a Fox News TV host. I mean, this is
[6:16] Speaker 3: what these people do. This is the only thing that
[6:19] Speaker 3: they actually know is entertainment. The spectacle is part of
[6:22] Speaker 3: the political virtue. And entertainment for them folds into the
[6:27] Speaker 3: political power. So it's really, you know, this is someone
[6:29] Speaker 3: who's on a holy crusade, who's using his official position
[6:33] Speaker 3: to just do the most sadistic, depraved things possible. Trump's
[6:36] Speaker 3: first term, don't forget that when he left office the
[6:39] Speaker 3: first time, he pardoned the worst of the worst of
[6:42] Speaker 3: the war criminals.
[6:43] Speaker 2: President Trump's decision to pardon four American security guards involved in.
[6:47] Speaker 4: The infamous Blackwater massacre.
[6:49] Speaker 2: Has horrified survivors of this 2007 incident.
[6:52] Speaker 3: Sending a very clear message to every American that this
[6:56] Speaker 3: is what is going to be condoned.
[6:57] Speaker 4: Seventeen unarmed Iraqi civilians were shot to death in 2007
[7:03] Speaker 4: in a Baghdad traffic circle, including nine and 11-year-old boys.
[7:08] Speaker 3: You are free to commit war crimes, you're free to
[7:10] Speaker 3: massacre civilians, and we will protect you.
[7:14] Speaker 2: In your eyes, I mean, it's, you know, it's about
[7:16] Speaker 2: public spectacle. It's about presenting this sort of gladiatorial, you know,
[7:21] Speaker 2: knights in the Colosseum of Rome kind of culmination of
[7:25] Speaker 2: what the last three and a half years has led to.
[7:28] Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, there's, you know, of course, it goes
[7:30] Speaker 3: back to time immemorial with Romans, you know, the public gladiators,
[7:33] Speaker 3: all these things. But yes, in the year 2026, there's
[7:36] Speaker 3: something particularly horrifying. The dark embrace of this full-throated fascistic
[7:41] Speaker 3: perversion of human psychology just reveling in the worst impulses
[7:45] Speaker 3: that human beings can operate under. It's the complete opposite
[7:48] Speaker 3: of what we should be doing as a civilized society.
[7:52] Speaker 3: You know, this is succumbing to the darkness. This is horrific.
[7:58] Speaker 3: This is a death cult. This is drinking from the
[8:00] Speaker 3: blood goblet. I mean, this is a bloodthirsty, ritualistic performance
[8:05] Speaker 3: designed to terrorize people, to paralyze people, And to frighten
[8:11] Speaker 3: the masses, which again, it's just the complete perversion of
[8:15] Speaker 3: what it is at the core to be a human being,
[8:18] Speaker 3: to be empathetic, to have humanity. Still to come, America's
[8:27] Speaker 3: efforts to dodge accountability and the.
[8:29] Speaker 4: Rules of war.
[8:40] Speaker 2: Abby, this comes at the same time as Pete Hegzeth
[8:44] Speaker 2: has criticized what he calls stupid rules of engagement. And
[8:47] Speaker 2: he's argued for giving American soldiers greater freedom to use
[8:52] Speaker 2: lethal force at the same time as the U.S. administration
[8:56] Speaker 2: is sanctioning the International Criminal Court, essentially trying to kill
[8:59] Speaker 2: it off.
[8:59] Speaker 3: Either the ICC will end its threats. where we will
[9:02] Speaker 3: end the ICC.
[9:04] Speaker 2: What do you think this tells us about the direction
[9:06] Speaker 2: that the U.S. military is heading? Since Trump's first term
[9:10] Speaker 2: after pardoning war criminals and the firing of JAG lawyers,
[9:14] Speaker 2: I mean, every single step that he's taken has made
[9:16] Speaker 2: very clear in the political messaging that they are embracing
[9:19] Speaker 2: war crimes and war criminals and there will be no
[9:21] Speaker 2: repercussions for them. So this is a top-down messaging. from
[9:26] Speaker 2: the highest office in the land, that this is the
[9:30] Speaker 2: law of the jungle. It's essentially just barbarism and savagery.
[9:34] Speaker 2: And I think what's so shocking about it is just
[9:37] Speaker 2: the collapse of all the fragility of these institutions that
[9:39] Speaker 2: were supposed to protect some sort of semblance of international law,
[9:42] Speaker 2: some sort of rules-based order, and it's just completely thrown
[9:45] Speaker 2: out the window, and essentially all gloves are off. This
[9:49] Speaker 2: is a very clear signaling of a very dark world
[9:52] Speaker 2: dark future ahead if we let these people continue to
[9:55] Speaker 2: hold power. We're also seeing the White House produce videos
[9:59] Speaker 2: of immigration arrests and deportations, something, sometimes it's set to
[10:03] Speaker 2: popular music, and they share them on social media.
[10:06] Speaker 3: Sabrina Carpenter is at war with the Trump White House.
[10:09] Speaker 3: The pop megastar is fuming after they used one of
[10:12] Speaker 3: her songs in a video of ICE agents in action.
[10:15] Speaker 2: Do you see a connection between the way this administration
[10:18] Speaker 2: presents violence overseas and the way it presents the use
[10:22] Speaker 2: of violence at home?
[10:24] Speaker 3: Yes, and I think Americans are waking up to that
[10:26] Speaker 3: fascistic presence in their streets. I mean, ICE is seen
[10:29] Speaker 3: as an extension of the U.S. military. Of course, the boomerang,
[10:33] Speaker 3: the imperial boomerang, it always started with indigenous brown and
[10:36] Speaker 3: black people here with the tactics of repression being practiced
[10:40] Speaker 3: on these communities here, then being exported abroad to maintain
[10:43] Speaker 3: this global military empire. And of course, it's just a
[10:46] Speaker 3: natural extension of that. The consequences of that come back
[10:49] Speaker 3: home to roost when we see the further militarization of police,
[10:53] Speaker 3: the surplus military equipment that's fed into the hands of
[10:56] Speaker 3: local police jurisdictions. And that repression is escalated and the
[11:01] Speaker 3: violence is escalated against communities here. This morning, new images
[11:05] Speaker 3: after a deadly ice involved shooting in Maine. It's always
[11:09] Speaker 3: been part and parcel with the imperial core, how it's
[11:13] Speaker 3: waged wars abroad and at home. Again, going back to
[11:17] Speaker 3: that reality show nature of the spectacle. I mean, this
[11:20] Speaker 3: is Squid Game. This is the Hunger Games. This is
[11:24] Speaker 3: sanitizing violence in a way that is signaling to young
[11:28] Speaker 3: people who consume social media and these small algorithmic digestive,
[11:33] Speaker 3: you know, 10 second clips that it all folds together
[11:38] Speaker 3: when they're seeing SpongeBob SquarePants and then they see someone
[11:41] Speaker 3: being executed. How does that flatten their sense of morality
[11:46] Speaker 3: and humanity in general? It's such a dark and disturbing trend.
[11:51] Speaker 3: The horror gets basically metabolized as a spectacle.
[11:54] Speaker 2: I'd be interested as well in your thoughts on how
[11:58] Speaker 2: much of a line this draws between the United States
[12:01] Speaker 2: and its allies in Europe and the United Kingdom. I mean,
[12:04] Speaker 2: it's becoming harder, I'm sure, for those allies and the
[12:07] Speaker 2: international community to continue to swallow this.
[12:12] Speaker 3: How much more are these collaborators going to take? How
[12:15] Speaker 3: much more are they going to bend over and become
[12:17] Speaker 3: doormats for these crimes and atrocities being done in their name?
[12:21] Speaker 3: I mean, this is all being folded into the architecture
[12:24] Speaker 3: of U.S. empire. And I'm sorry, but Australia is complicit
[12:28] Speaker 3: in this.
[12:29] Speaker 5: Foreign Affairs Minister Wong. Minister, we know that Pine Gap
[12:33] Speaker 5: is a critical part of U.S. global war making, including
[12:38] Speaker 5: its attacks on Iranian schools and hospitals in the last
[12:41] Speaker 5: 48 hours.
[12:42] Speaker 3: I mean, we see Pine Gap. We see the targeting
[12:44] Speaker 3: of children in Iran, children in Gaza. This is all
[12:47] Speaker 3: happening from Iran. the intelligence community within Australia. This is
[12:52] Speaker 3: directly correlated to what's going on. So how long is
[12:56] Speaker 3: the Australian community going to say this is acceptable? How
[13:00] Speaker 3: long are Australian leaders going to say this is acceptable
[13:02] Speaker 3: to be folded into the crimes of U.S. empire? And
[13:05] Speaker 3: I think it's just the naked barbaric face that's always
[13:09] Speaker 3: presented itself to most of the global South that's rearing
[13:12] Speaker 3: its ugly head, unmasking and really showing the Western world
[13:15] Speaker 3: for what it is. And the choice needs to be made.
[13:19] Speaker 3: a line has to be drawn in the sand. How
[13:20] Speaker 3: much longer are we going to accept this? And especially
[13:23] Speaker 3: when the line becomes so blurred between the so-called enemies
[13:26] Speaker 3: that were waging war against Iran, right? I mean, if
[13:29] Speaker 3: public execution is one of the justifications to invade and
[13:32] Speaker 3: impose our dictates on another country, what does that say
[13:36] Speaker 3: about us? What does that say about Australia? And what
[13:38] Speaker 3: does that say about the leaders in Europe?
[13:40] Speaker 2: It's interesting because, as you've mentioned, we've spent three years
[13:45] Speaker 2: watching the devastation in Gaza. We've seen ICE agents killing
[13:48] Speaker 2: people on American streets, videos of boats being blown up
[13:52] Speaker 2: in the Caribbean. And now Hegzeth wants Americans to watch
[13:55] Speaker 2: another execution. What do you think happens to a society
[14:00] Speaker 2: when the government starts treating its ability to kill people
[14:04] Speaker 2: as something to take pride in?
[14:07] Speaker 3: It's no measure of sickness to be well-adjusted to a
[14:09] Speaker 3: profoundly sick society is the most incredible quote and very apt.
[14:13] Speaker 3: I think what it shows is that we are spiritually
[14:16] Speaker 3: doomed and dying. as a species. It is completely contrary
[14:22] Speaker 3: to what we should be embracing. Life, the sustenance of
[14:26] Speaker 3: how we can sustain this beautiful planet, how we can
[14:29] Speaker 3: collaborate and confront these environmental crises that we face, and
[14:32] Speaker 3: instead we're reveling in death and destruction and slapping impunity
[14:37] Speaker 3: for the perpetrators of this horror show that we continue
[14:40] Speaker 3: to witness forcibly and now forcibly watching public executions of people.
[14:48] Speaker 3: We need to stop normalizing this. We need to stand
[14:50] Speaker 3: up and say we do not accept this dark, disturbing trend.
[14:55] Speaker 3: We don't want to revel in the darkness that Pete
[14:57] Speaker 3: Hegseth revels himself in. This has to stop and it
[15:00] Speaker 3: has to stop now.
[15:04] Speaker 2: Abby Martin, it's been great to speak with you. Thanks
[15:06] Speaker 2: so much for joining us.
[15:07] Speaker 3: Thank you.
[15:22] Speaker 2: Also in the news, Australia faces the biggest unemployment jump
[15:27] Speaker 2: in the developed world next year. That's according to new
[15:29] Speaker 2: modelling from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF predicts that
[15:33] Speaker 2: the US-Israel war against Iran will start to take a toll,
[15:37] Speaker 2: with unemployment tipped to hit 4.7%. The conflict could also
[15:42] Speaker 2: see Australian petrol prices rise by another 30 cents a litre,
[15:47] Speaker 2: which economists say would heap pressure on the Reserve Bank
[15:50] Speaker 2: to hike interest rates again. And the competition watchdog is
[15:55] Speaker 2: suing Sunny Queen Eggs and 11 other egg producers... over
[15:59] Speaker 2: claims they manipulated the market through what it called cartel conduct.
[16:04] Speaker 2: The ACCC says the businesses have been substantially reducing competition
[16:08] Speaker 2: since 2020 by coordinating on production volumes, distribution and expansion plans,
[16:15] Speaker 2: which has been driving up prices for consumers. I'm Tina Quinn.
[16:19] Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening to 7am. We'll be back tomorrow.
[16:24] Speaker 3: Thank you.

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