Americans Express Little Interest in McVeigh Execution

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- On Friday, Attorney General John Ashcroft delayed the execution of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh until June 11 so that newly discovered FBI files on his case can be reviewed. The execution has been one of the biggest news stories of the year. Regardless of when the execution may finally take place, Gallup polling suggests that the public does not appear to think the event represents a pivotal moment in the history of the American justice system. Americans say they are not interested in watching live news coverage of it, and do not think the execution will have much of an effect on death penalty attitudes or on future acts of violence in the United States.

The latest Gallup poll, conducted May 7-9, shows that just 19% of Americans are "very" or "somewhat interested" in watching news coverage of McVeigh's execution. Fully two-thirds of the public say they are "not at all interested." A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll also showed that the vast majority of the public would not be interested in watching the actual execution of McVeigh, if given the chance. To date, the public has paid only a moderate amount of attention to McVeigh's execution. Fifty-nine percent of the public has followed the news about this story closely (14% very closely), which is only average compared with the attention paid to other news stories Gallup has measured over the past several years.

Public Sees Little Impact of McVeigh Execution

McVeigh's case is unusual in several respects. His attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in April 1995 caused more deaths than any other act of terrorism on American soil. He will also be the first person executed by the federal government since 1963. One key question is what effect, if any, the McVeigh execution will have on the country. Just over half of all Americans, 53%, say that it will help the victims' families cope with the tragedy and reach "closure," although 40% disagree. Those who have followed news about the execution closely are especially likely to think that it will bring closure to the families -- 62% believe this, compared to just 42% of those who are not following this event closely. The public is evenly divided over whether McVeigh will be seen as a martyr by some Americans, with 46% predicting he will and 46% predicting he will not. Americans are far less optimistic that the death of McVeigh will act as a deterrent to future acts of violence, as only 30% think it will while 66% think it will not. Republicans (38%) are more likely than Democrats (24%) to think that future acts of violence will be deterred.

Execution Will Not Affect Most Americans' View of the Death Penalty

According to the poll, 68% of Americans say the scheduled execution of McVeigh will make no difference in their opinion on the death penalty, although among the rest, more say it has increased their support than say it has increased their opposition. Overall, 22% say the effect of the scheduled execution has been to increase their support for the death penalty, while 8% say the effect has been to increase their opposition. Those who are following the issue closely are somewhat more likely (26%) than those who have been less attentive (17%) to say their support for the death penalty has increased as a consequence of the scheduled execution. The latest Gallup reading -- from February 2001 -- shows 67% of Americans favor and 25% oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder and, by a 54% to 42% margin, Americans say the death penalty is a better penalty for murder than life imprisonment with absolutely no chance for parole.

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,005 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 7-9, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

How closely have you followed the news about the scheduled execution of Timothy McVeigh, the man convicted of murder in the Oklahoma City bombing case and sentenced to be executed on May 16th -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?

 

	Very closely	Somewhat closely	Not too closely	Not at all	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	14%	45	27	14	*
* Less than 0.5%

How interested are you in watching the live news coverage of the McVeigh execution on the morning of May 16th -- very interested, somewhat interested, not too interested, or not at all interested?

 

	Very interested	Somewhat interested	Not too interested	Not at all interested	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	9%	10	15	66	*
* Less than 0.5%

Just your opinion, do you think execution of McVeigh will or will not act as a deterrent to future acts of violence and murder?

 

	Will	Will not	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	30%	66	4

Just your opinion, do you think execution of McVeigh will or will not help the families of the victims cope with the tragedy and reach "closure"?

 

	Will	Will not	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	53%	40	7

Just your opinion, do you think execution of McVeigh will or will not make McVeigh a martyr in the eyes of some Americans?

 

	Will	Will not	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	46%	46	8

Has the effect of the scheduled McVeigh execution been to [ROTATED: increase your support of the death penalty (or) increase your opposition of the death penalty], or has it made no difference to you?

 

	Increase support	Increase opposition	No difference	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	22%	8	68	2