US Military Execution Revival Exposes Racialized Capital Punishment & State Violence as Systemic Control Tools
Original framing: “Trump calls off livestream for Fort Hood shooter's execution by firing squad” — BBC News - World
The revival of military executions echoes historical patterns of racialized state violence, from the 1917 Houston Riot executions of Black soldiers to the post-9/11 targeting of Muslim communities under the Patriot Act. Hasan’s case is not an anomaly but part of a continuum where the state uses capital punishment to discipline marginalized bodies, particularly those perceived as threats due to race or religion. The military’s historical use of executions as a tool of control—such as during the Philippine-American War—demonstrates how this practice is deeply embedded in imperial and colonial logics of domination.
The revival of military executions under Trump is not merely a political stunt but a deliberate act of racialized state violence, rooted in a long history of disciplining marginalized bodies through capital punishment.
The framing of Hasan’s execution as a moral or legal necessity obscures its role in reinforcing systemic failures—from the military’s neglect of mental health care to its complicity in Islamophobia and racial profiling. Cross-culturally, this practice stands in stark contrast to restorative justice models that prioritize healing over punishment, revealing the US’s exceptionalism in punitive governance. The trickster here is the state itself, performing justice while deepening cycles of trauma, and the solution lies in demilitarizing justice, investing in care, and holding power accountable through truth commissions and global pressure. Without addressing these systemic roots, the spectacle of execution will only perpetuate the very violence it claims to avenge.