Eli5: Why would the condemned often be blindfolded before execution by firing squad?

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Was it to make the prisoner more docile or for the benefit of the firing sauad themselves?

(I know this is morbid, sorry. Research for a novel.)

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Its for the benefit of the firing squad.

Shooting someone knowing you will end their life is a incredibly traumatic event. Shooting someone LOOKING at you is even worse. Outside of of psychopath, people develop PTSD, which is why many mechanics designed to let them “sleep better at night”. Things like blank round, multiple people per person executed, hood over their head so you don’t see them, these are all things designed to protect the shooter and not the person being shot.

You want to protect the executioner because they are not criminals, and having life altering PTSD is defiantly a form of severe punishment.

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