Beheading video

Destroy this Mad Brute: Enlist, propaganda poster encouraging men in the United States to enlist and fight Germany as part of WWI, by Harry R. Hopps, c. 1917

Form of propaganda or snuff video in which hostages are graphically decapitated.

- Beheading video
Destroy this Mad Brute: Enlist, propaganda poster encouraging men in the United States to enlist and fight Germany as part of WWI, by Harry R. Hopps, c. 1917

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The Beheading of Saint Paul. Painting by Enrique Simonet in 1887, Málaga Cathedral

Decapitation

Total separation of the head from the body.

Total separation of the head from the body.

The Beheading of Saint Paul. Painting by Enrique Simonet in 1887, Málaga Cathedral
Beheadings in an illumination from Froissart's Chronicles from the beginning of the 15th century – the execution of Guillaume Sans and his secretary in Bordeaux on the orders of Thomas Felton
Perseus using the severed head of Medusa to turn King Polydectes to stone.
Depiction of an Ethiopian Emperor executing people, 18th century
Odin finding Mímir's beheaded body – an episode of Norse mythology.
Beheading – facsimile of a miniature on wood in the Cosmographia of Sebastian Münster (1488–1552), Basel, Switzerland, 1552
"The beheading of St. Barbara" by Giulio Quaglio the Younger (1721–1723)
Depiction of a public execution in Brueghel's The Triumph of Death, 1562–1563
Depiction of the public execution of pirates (namely Klein Henszlein and his crew) in Hamburg, Germany, 10 September 1573
The Beheading of Cosmas and Damian, by Fra Angelico
Aristocratic heads on pikes – a cartoon from the French Revolution
French anarchist Auguste Vaillant just before being guillotined in 1894
A fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Ranked beheaded bodies on the ground, in Caishikou, Beijing, China, 1905
Japanese illustration depicting the beheading of Chinese captives. Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95
Sgt. Leonard Siffleet, an Australian POW captured in New Guinea, about to be beheaded by a Japanese soldier with a shin guntō sword, 1943
A contemporary German print depicting the beheading of King Charles I.
Beheading of John the Baptist by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld, 1860
The beheading of the 15th Century Castilian Royal favorite, Don Álvaro de Luna. Painting by José María Rodríguez de Losada (1826–1896)
Assyrian military campaign in southern Mesopotamia, beheaded enemies, 7th century BC, from Nineveh, Iraq. The British Museum
Panel showing ballplayer being beheaded, Classic Veracruz culture, Mexico
King of Dahomey cuts off 127 heads to complete the ornament of his wall. 1793

Sometimes, the beheadings are videotaped and made available on the Internet.

Daniel Pearl

American journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal. He was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan.

American journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal. He was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan.

Pearl's U.S. passport issued in 1986
Daniel Pearl stating his identity in the video produced by his captors. The text reads اسمي دانیال بیرل، انا یھودی امریکی (My name is Daniel Pearl, I am an American Jew).
Plaque at National War Correspondents Memorial, Gathland State Park

On February 21, 2002, a video was released titled The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl.

Nick Berg seated, with five men standing over him. The man directly behind him, said to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is the one who beheaded Berg.

Nick Berg

American freelance radio-tower repairman who went to Iraq after the United States' invasion of Iraq.

American freelance radio-tower repairman who went to Iraq after the United States' invasion of Iraq.

Nick Berg seated, with five men standing over him. The man directly behind him, said to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is the one who beheaded Berg.

On May 11, 2004, the website of the militant jihadist group Muntada al-Ansar posted a video with the opening title of "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slaughters an American", which shows Berg being decapitated.

Johnson on left

Paul Marshall Johnson Jr.

American helicopter engineer from New Jersey who lived in Saudi Arabia.

American helicopter engineer from New Jersey who lived in Saudi Arabia.

Johnson on left

In 2004, he was taken hostage by militants and his murder was recorded on video tape.

Bigley (right) with his wife Sombat in 1998

Kidnapping and murder of Kenneth Bigley

British civil engineer who was kidnapped in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq, on 16 September 2004, along with his colleagues Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, both United States citizens.

British civil engineer who was kidnapped in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq, on 16 September 2004, along with his colleagues Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, both United States citizens.

Bigley (right) with his wife Sombat in 1998

A second beheading video was released on 22 September by Bigley's captors, this time showing Bigley pleading for his life and begging the British Prime Minister Tony Blair to save him.

Steven Sotloff

American-Israeli journalist.

American-Israeli journalist.

On September 2, 2014, ISIS released a beheading video, showing one of its members beheading Sotloff.

Banner outside the Kidane Mehret Church in Jerusalem, protesting about the 2015 beheading of Ethiopian Christians in Libya

Islamic State beheading incidents

Beginning in 2014, a number of people from various countries were beheaded by the Islamic State; a radical Sunni Islamist group operating in Iraq and parts of Syria.

Beginning in 2014, a number of people from various countries were beheaded by the Islamic State; a radical Sunni Islamist group operating in Iraq and parts of Syria.

Banner outside the Kidane Mehret Church in Jerusalem, protesting about the 2015 beheading of Ethiopian Christians in Libya

Beheading videos have been frequently posted by ISIS members to social media.

Yellow cabs in New York City

Alan Henning

English taxicab driver-turned-volunteer humanitarian aid worker.

English taxicab driver-turned-volunteer humanitarian aid worker.

Yellow cabs in New York City

He was the fourth Western hostage killed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) whose killing was publicised in a beheading video.