New Delhi: The Pentagon plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood, 17 years after he killed 13 people at the military base. US War Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended the plan as a deterrent, but it has drawn criticism from the Pope, the UN and senators across party lines, with one likening it to executions carried out by the Islamic State.
Former US Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people in 2009. Pete Hegseth called it a radical Islamist attack and said Hasan's execution would be livestreamed. The execution is scheduled to take place at the same military base, on the same day of the week, and at the same hour, 17 years after the attack that also wounded 32 other people.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth argued that the public broadcast will send a message about the severe consequences of such crimes. However, the decision has faced sharp backlash from both Republicans and Democrats, while the United Nations and the Pope have condemned the proposal. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have also cast doubt on whether the livestream will actually proceed, even though Trump approved the death sentence.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others during a shooting on November 5, 2009, while shouting religious phrases. He was sentenced to death in 2013. The choice of Fort Hood and the timing were intentionally chosen by Hegseth to mirror the original attack, though the defense secretary's deterrence argument has been challenged by former counterterrorism officials who warn the broadcast could be used as recruitment propaganda by extremist groups.
The use of a firing squad itself carries historical significance, as the last US military execution by firing squad occurred in 1945, and the military has not carried out any execution since 1961. Hasan's lawyer has criticized the decision as political theater and a public spectacle, especially given that Hasan was left paralyzed from the waist down during the original incident. The Pentagon has yet to clarify logistical details regarding the platform for the broadcast or whether families of the victims will be invited to attend.