Palmer Luckey says that executions should be 'public and brutal' — not 'private and medicalized'

Palmer Luckey said his longstanding position is that executions should take place publicly. In a Sunday post on X, he argued they should be harsh rather than conducted privately or in medical settings.

Luckey described executions as an expression of the state’s power to use force. He also criticized the move toward private procedures, calling it troubling and dystopian.

He pointed to George Washington as a historical figure whose views he considers a precedent; Washington supported public hangings and enforced strict discipline.

Luckey said people who oppose the death penalty entirely have a logically consistent position. He argued that anyone objecting to executions by the Trump administration in public should also oppose them in private.

Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale voiced agreement with Luckey. The article does not report any policy change or further action following the exchange.