Pentagon plans to livestream military execution of Fort Hood shooter
Nidal Hasan will be executed by military firing squad on December 3 for killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. The Pentagon plans to livestream the execution, which would be the first US military firing squad execution since 1945. The plan has provoked criticism from politicians across both parties and from the UN Human Rights Commissioner.
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The US military plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he killed 13 people in 2009. If carried out as planned, this would be the first US military firing squad execution since 1945. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the execution would be public and that soldiers with rifles would carry it out. Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle set the execution time for 1 p.m., coinciding with the hour Hasan committed his attack.
The plan has drawn widespread criticism from politicians of both parties. Republican Representative Austin Scott supports executing Hasan but warned that livestreaming executions mirrors the practices of jihadists and conflicts with American values. Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the broadcast "a barbaric spectacle" that would provide Hasan with a global platform to spread his hateful message. Vice President JD Vance expressed doubt about whether the livestream would actually occur and stated he would not watch such an event. President Trump backed the execution itself, describing Hasan as a "maniac" who "deserves it," though he did not comment on the livestream plan specifically. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also condemned the move, arguing that livestreaming an execution amounts to a public execution and violates the absolute prohibition against torture.
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