Early in US history, authorities often held executions publicly for citizens to witness. Crowds sometimes numbered in the thousands, as seen at the 1818 hanging of John Tiernan for murder in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Michael Radelet, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies executions, told AP that this served as both a deterrent to criminals and an educational tool for children. Execution ceremonies sometimes included choirs, with ministers delivering sermons on capital punishment, and the condemned, usually by hanging, would address the crowd.

In April 1834, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law abolishing public executions, moving hangings inside county jails due to concerns about disorder. Pennsylvania is considered the first state to implement this change, though some believe Rhode Island took similar action a year prior.

This trend gradually spread to other states. The hanging of Rainey Bethea, a 22-year-old Black man, in Owensboro, Kentucky, in August 1936, ultimately marked the end of public executions in the United States.

The hanging of Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky, US on 14/8/1936. Photo: Reuters

In June 1936, neighbors discovered Lischia Edwards, a 70-year-old white woman, had been robbed, raped, and murdered by an intruder. Police recovered a celluloid ring belonging to Bethea and suspect fingerprints from the room.

Bethea was arrested and confessed to the rape and claimed he killed the victim, but he was not prosecuted for murder, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC).

According to Mother Jones, Kentucky officials only prosecuted Bethea for rape because this charge allowed for a public hanging in the county where the crime occurred. Had he been sentenced to death for murder, Bethea would have faced the electric chair at the state prison.

The case garnered national attention due to its racial elements. Additionally, the Daviess County sheriff at the time was Florence Shoemaker Thompson, making it the first execution in the US supervised by a woman.

The DPIC stated that Bethea's gallows were set up in an Owensboro parking lot instead of the courthouse lawn to prevent damage to the area, given the anticipated large crowd. The execution was scheduled for the early morning of 14/8/1936, with approximately 20,000 people attending.

Sheriff Thompson did not wish to carry out the execution herself, so she asked Arthur Hash, a former Louisville police officer, to do it. Hash pulled the lever to open the trapdoor at 5:32 a.m., and Bethea was pronounced dead at 5:45 a.m. Images from the scene show a crowd surrounding the gallows, while the atmosphere was described as resembling a festive event.

"They were selling sandwiches, soft drinks. You would think it was a big picnic or something," Bill Shelton, who attended the execution, recounted to the Daviess County Public Library in 2013.

Public reception of the event quickly became a point of contention. Instead of focusing on the verdict and the administration of justice, attendees seemed to view the condemned man's death as a spectacle.

US media reported on the event with many exaggerated details. Some newspapers claimed the crowd vied for items taken from the prisoner's body. Others described the crowd as chaotic and out of control. These sensationalized reports brought nationwide ridicule to Owensboro.

The execution also sparked a backlash regarding the brutality of public executions and how they were turned into spectator events.

Rachel Abbott, one of the witnesses, told WKU in 2016 that she was five years old when she saw the execution and had nightmares for years afterward.

"Even now, when I think about it, I still cry," she said.

After Bethea's case, Kentucky officials held a semi-public hanging in a prison yard in 1937 before officially banning public executions in 1938.

In the following decades, executions in the US were gradually moved inside correctional facilities. The number of permitted witnesses was limited, typically including only a few officials, the prisoner's relatives, lawyers, and media representatives.

"Bethea is often referred to as the last person publicly executed in the United States," Professor Radelet stated.

According to Radelet, this practice gradually lost favor for two main reasons.

"The public no longer believed that public executions could deter crime. Officials feared that executions before crowds, especially those with errors, could lead to public opposition to the death penalty," Radelet told NPR.

Nidal Hasan, a death row inmate scheduled for public execution in early December, in an image released in 8/2012. Photo: Reuters

The issue of public execution is currently gaining attention in the US. On 8/10, the Pentagon announced it would live-stream the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former US Army major who shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. The death sentence will be carried out at Fort Hood on 3/12 by firing squad.

"We will ensure everyone can watch the execution; this is a public event. Because people need to understand that there will be serious consequences for such actions," said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

If implemented, this would be the first time the US live-streams an execution to the public.

Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University, suggests that live-streaming could help the public better understand the entire execution process. This might be useful given the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, which raised new questions about execution methods.

Elisabeth Semel, co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, believes this decision poses numerous legal and public policy debates, including ensuring the dignity of the condemned and those permitted to witness the execution, as well as the government's purpose.

"We have a president who values sensational images, and that's probably the message he wants to convey this time," Semel said.

As Tam (According to Washington Post, NPR, AP)