Have any U.S. citizens been executed for sedition specifically, and when?

1. What the law actually says: civilian vs. military penalties

Mainstream outlets cited here explain a clear split: for civilians there is no present statutory charge simply called “sedition” with death as a prescribed punishment; instead, federal statutes address “seditious conspiracy” with prison terms—commonly noted as up to 20 years—whereas the Uniform Code of Military Justice contains sedition provisions that may include the death penalty for service members ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Historical practice vs. modern reporting: no civilian executions cited in these reports

The current story cycle focused on President Trump’s post saying certain Democrats’ actions were “punishable by death,” prompting outlets to underline that U.S. civilian law lacks a death-penalty sedition charge; none of the provided articles lists a U.S. citizen recently or historically executed specifically under a civilian sedition statute—those executions are not mentioned in the present reporting (available sources do not mention any civilian executions for sedition) ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

3. Why the distinction matters in the Trump controversy

Coverage shows the distinction between civilian and military law is central to reactions after the president’s social-media posts: journalists and analysts point out that while Trump called the lawmakers’ actions “seditious” and “punishable by death,” federal civilian statutes do not authorize execution for sedition and the practical maximum for seditious conspiracy is decades in prison, not death ^{[1] [4] [2]}.

4. Military personnel: a separate legal track that can include capital punishment

Reuters and DW emphasize that the Uniform Code of Military Justice contains sedition provisions that could, in some circumstances, expose military members to capital punishment—this is the legal reality that reporters cite when noting the theoretical reach of “punishable by death” language if applied within a military justice setting ^{[1] [2]}.

5. Reporting on political rhetoric and its limits

Major outlets (New York Times, Reuters, CNN, Guardian, Axios, NBC) uniformly report the president’s rhetoric and the visceral political response—Democrats decrying calls for execution and aides walking back language—while also flagging that legal pathways to execution for civilians do not exist as the president described. Those outlets document both the provocation and the legal constraints without concluding that an execution pathway for civilian lawmakers currently exists ^{[3] [1] [5] [6] [7] [4]}.

6. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas

Some outlets foreground alarm and democratic norms (The Guardian, NYT, CNN), while others (Fox News) emphasize the president’s supporters’ framing or his intent to “define” sedition; the pieces about White House pushback stress that the administration’s spokesman denied a desire to execute lawmakers ^{[6] [8] [9]}. Readers should note these outlets have different editorial tendencies and select facts and quotes accordingly—reporting consistently cites the legal distinction but varies in tone and emphasis ^{[3] [8] [9]}.

7. Limits of available reporting and open questions

The set of sources provided does not contain a comprehensive historical legal study tracking every instance of prosecution for sedition or seditious conspiracy across U.S. history; therefore, it is not possible from these items alone to definitively say “never” for all time. However, within these contemporary reports and legal summaries, journalists repeatedly state that civilian law lacks a death-penalty sedition charge and make no claim that U.S. citizens have recently been executed specifically for civilian sedition (available sources do not mention historical civilian executions for sedition) ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

8. Bottom line for readers

If your question is whether the U.S. currently executes civilians for “sedition” as described in recent political rhetoric, the reporting here shows that federal civilian law does not provide for a death penalty for sedition and that the statutory civilian offense closest in name—seditious conspiracy—carries up to about 20 years in prison, whereas capital punishment for sedition exists only under military law for service members; none of these articles cites any example of a U.S. citizen being executed specifically for civilian sedition ^{[1] [2] [4]}.

If you want a fuller historical legal answer (e.g., looking back to 19th-century prosecutions or state-level actions), those records are not in the current set of articles and would require additional, specialized legal-historical sources (available sources do not mention deeper historical records).