Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated on Thursday that Nidal Hasan’s execution would be broadcast live so Americans could watch. Hasan, a former Army major, was sentenced to death after fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he still has not settled the question of a livestream. According to The Daily Mail, he said, “There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it. Cause you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but I’ll make a decision.”
Trump labeled Hasan a “vicious killer” who murdered 13 people “in cold blood” and left 20 others wounded. He added that “Some of those people will never have their lives back in a true sense.”
President shifts from earlier backing of the livestream idea while critics object
After greenlighting the firing squad execution, Trump had backed Hegseth’s proposal to broadcast it initially, telling reporters on Wednesday that Hasan “deserves it.” By Friday, he said the Pentagon was “making a determination” on whether the event would be public, though he insisted Hasan would face a firing squad either way.
That same day, Trump remarked, “I really don’t care how he goes, as long as he goes. And I think the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him.” When a reporter asked whether he had approved the livestream, Trump answered that he “absolutely” did.
Vice President JD Vance sounded less certain. On Friday, he told reporters, “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.” He added that he would not watch if it did take place, and said, “So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people.”
Hegseth first floated the livestream during an appearance on Jack Posobiec’s podcast. He argued the execution should be public “because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
He described a firing squad as a return to practices the U.S. Army employed in World War II, saying he preferred “the mentality we had in World War II, which was win. Which was understand when the enemy attacks you, you stand your ground.”
The announcement drew immediate criticism. The UN human rights office said Friday that broadcasting the killing “is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture.” Senator Chris Murphy asked, “What is he mimicking? ISIS executions.” He continued, “I understand that in this country we have the death penalty, but public executions is medieval,” and called it “one of the things that we abhor about terrorist groups.”
Senator Thom Tillis wrote on X that public executions are “what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do.” He stated, “It should not be happening in America,” and described the idea of streaming the death as “beyond disgusting.”
Senator Jon Ossoff told MS Now that Hegseth is “a deeply unwell person who seems to relish this kind of brutality,” calling the plan an “obscene medieval spectacle” while the secretary is “running a department that is falling into chaos.” Ossoff added, “The guy cannot run the military competently.”
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, labeled the decision a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”
Hasan was convicted in 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. He told investigators he targeted soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan because they were “going to engage in an illegal war.”
Hasan entered a medical processing center at the base, followed soldiers out a rear exit, and then exchanged fire with police. The execution is set for December 3 at 1 p.m.
Published: Oct 11, 2026 10:15 am