LeadershipReports disagree2 publishers2 min readPublished
Palmer Luckey, whose Anduril sells to the Pentagon and CBP, wants executions 'public and brutal'
Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey wrote on X that executions should be "public and brutal," backing Hegseth's plan to livestream Nidal Hasan's execution. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Thom Tillis, both Republicans, have criticized that plan.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
What happened
- Trump approved the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan last week, and Hegseth announced shortly afterward that it would be livestreamed.
- Hasan opened fire on unarmed fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 and killed 13 people.
- Mother Jones, citing Axios, reports that even Trump has expressed doubts about livestreaming the execution.
- Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale defended Luckey, writing that "Our society today is too soft in ways that cause our fellow citizens harm."
- In a follow-up post, Luckey suggested that non-public executions were fascist.
Why it matters
- exposure Luckey's words now attach to a company whose buyers are the Defense Department, CBP and foreign militaries, and the reporting shows none of them responding yet.
- contradiction Mother Jones says Trump approved the execution, while Business Insider says he was still weighing the decision, so the fact that fixes what the post is attached to is unsettled.
- constraint In our view, Luckey's reply naming the Trump administration makes the post hard to present as abstract political theory to buyers inside that administration.
The sources establish a founder's position and say little about a company's. Luckey wrote the post on X on Sunday night [1], and Mother Jones describes Anduril as a firm that sells autonomous drones and software to the Defense Department, Customs and Border Protection, and militaries abroad [12]. Neither Mother Jones nor Business Insider reports a statement from Anduril, says the company adopted the view, or quotes a customer. The exposure so far sits in the record itself: public words, attributed to a co-founder, attached to a Pentagon plan that senior Republicans have attacked.
Luckey's position predates the Hasan case. He said, "I have been outspoken on wanting public executions for over a decade" [2], and he cites George Washington, who authorized public executions in the military to reinforce discipline [9]. His argument is that private, medicalized executions remove a check on the state. "It makes needless executions more likely, not less so," he wrote [5]. In reply to another user he went further: "If people don't want the Trump administration executing people in public, they definitely shouldn't want them doing it in private!" [8]
The named opposition to the livestream comes from his own side of the aisle. Johnson (R-La.) told CBS News on Monday that a livestream could be used by terrorist groups to recruit more people [14]. Tillis (R-N.C.) called the plan "beyond disgusting" [15]. Republicans are who Luckey has funded: $5.9 million since 2017, according to FEC records cited by Mother Jones [13].
The sequence decides what the post ends up attached to. If the livestream goes ahead, the Defense Department will have carried out the broadcast Luckey defended. If it is dropped, he will have defended a plan the administration abandoned. The Pentagon has not officially addressed the mechanics of the execution of Hasan, who is paralyzed from the waist down, including whether he would remain in his wheelchair [7][11].
What to watch
- Whether Trump settles the livestream question, given Axios's report of his doubts and Business Insider's account that he was still weighing the decision.
- Any statement from Anduril, or from a Defense Department, CBP or foreign-military customer, about Luckey's post.
- Whether the Pentagon publishes the mechanics of Hasan's execution, including whether he would remain in his wheelchair.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap
- Insufficient
- Incentives40
- Confidence68
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Anduril, wrote in a Sunday post on X: "Executions should be public and brutal, not private and medicalized."
ReportedSupportedSource: Business Insider, quoting Luckey's X post2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [2]
Luckey said: "I have been outspoken on wanting public executions for over a decade."
ReportedSupportedSource: Mother Jones, quoting Luckey2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [3]
Last week Trump approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced shortly after that the execution would be livestreamed.
- [4]
Hasan opened fire on unarmed fellow soldiers at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, killing 13 people.
- [5]
Luckey wrote of the shift to private executions: "It makes needless executions more likely, not less so."
ReportedSupportedSource: Business Insider, quoting Luckey's X post2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [6]
Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale wrote in defense of Luckey: "Palmer Luckey and George Washington are not barbaric. Our society today is too soft in ways that cause our fellow citizens harm."
ReportedSupportedSource: Mother Jones and Business Insider, quoting Lonsdale2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [7]
The mechanics of the execution, including whether Hasan would remain in his wheelchair, have not been officially addressed by the Pentagon.
- [8]
Responding to another user, Luckey wrote: "If people don't want the Trump administration executing people in public, they definitely shouldn't want them doing it in private!"
ReportedSupportedSource: Business Insider, quoting Luckey2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [9]
Luckey cited George Washington, who authorized public executions in the military to reinforce discipline, to support his stance.
- [10]
In a follow-up to his first post, Luckey concluded by suggesting that non-public executions were fascist.
- [11]
Hasan was shot in the back by police during the mass shooting and is now paralyzed from the waist down.
- [12]
Anduril Industries is a military technology company that sells autonomous drones and software to the Defense Department, Customs and Border Protection, and militaries abroad.
- [13]
Luckey has donated $5.9 million to Republicans since 2017, according to FEC records.
- [14]
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told CBS News on Monday that a livestream could be used by terrorist groups to recruit more people.
- [15]
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a vocal critic of Hegseth, called the livestream plan "beyond disgusting" last week, comparing it to public executions in oppressive dictatorships.
- [16]
According to Axios, even Trump has expressed doubts about livestreaming the execution.
ReportedContestedSource: Mother Jones, citing Axios2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source - [17]
President Trump said he was still weighing the decision.
ReportedContestedSource: Business Insider2 sources— create a free account to open themView cited source
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- businessinsider.comPalmer Luckey says that executions should be 'public and brutal'
1 article · October 12, 2026
- Mother Jones
motherjones.com
1 article · October 13, 2026
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