Rainey Bethea

But in the United States, the last one was in a rape conviction in Kentucky.

Someone was hanged, I believe, in 1936, Rainey Bethea.

So that didn't happen after World War II, it happened prior to World War II, at least by my judgment, so I'm not sure how he's making that qualification.

But this is the guy that double-tapped fishermen in Venezuela for a hobby, claimed we won the war in Iran a million times, and has no moral standing whatsoever.

Who, well, who was that?

It was Rainey Bethea, and she was hung in Kentucky in front of 20,000 people.

Mm.

Um, but this would be the first military execution since 1961.

The last person to be publicly executed in the United States, not military, was, uh, a man-

Was it Rainey Bethea?

Rainey Bethea, who was hanged-

See, this one-

...

That, that was on one part of Wikipedia.

Elsewhere on Wikipedia, it says that a man named Roscoe Jackson was the last one to die.

Okay, but before we move on from Rainey Bethea-

Okay.

So listen, the last execution in the United States was in 1936, and it just so happens Rainey Bethea was a Black man, and it just so happens that they're not certain that he was guilty, but he was executed in Kentucky.

And one of the people who was there witnessing said, yeah, they were selling sandwiches and Coca-Colas just like they were at a big picnic.

And in that photo, he's on.

Mm-hmm.

Hey, by the way, can you...

If you go back, that slide I just showed about Rainey Bethea, for some people, that's triggering and traumatizing, just to show that.

Okay, but go forward.

Um, but let's not act like this is something new.

Owensboro, uh, Kentucky, uh, Rainey Bethea, a 27-year-old Black man, was convicted of rape in a three-hour trial.

Now, this is why we tell you to leave them snow bunnies alone, man.

Um, because the American tradition, especially during Jim Crow, and the easiest way to get a Black man convicted of a crime was to just say he raped a white woman.

Some cases in smaller towns, they just convict you and let the Klan do what they're gonna do.

Um, in most cases, like a case like this, this would be a situation where this would be an event for them.

And, and, and, and the hanging, um, and, you know, the public execution of Rainey Bethea, 20,000 people showed up to the courthouse to watch him be hung.

Hot dogs, popcorn, and soda was sold, and they were drinking in celebration of his death.

The office has said that public killings by the state constitute a form of cruel and humane or degrading treatment or punishment.

Should the live stream go forward, Hassan's execution will be the first state-sanctioned killing in the U.S., Since public killing, since 1936, Rainey Bethea, a black man, was hanged in Kentucky in 1936 after reportedly confessing to the killing of a white woman.

He was never charged with the murder.

Thousands of people attended his execution outside a courthouse.