Hegseth's Plan to Livestream Nidal Hasan's Firing Squad Execution Splits Republicans as Trump Says He'll Decide

On 8 October Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the execution of Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, would be carried out by firing squad on 3 December and streamed publicly. It would be the first US military execution since 1961. The last known military firing squad execution was in 1945.

By 10 October the President was hedging. “There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it,” he said. “I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision.” A day earlier he had said: “Did I approve? Absolutely,” and “I really don’t care how he goes as long as he goes.” Axios reported that he privately told aides the livestream “might not happen.”

Republican objections

Several Republican senators came out against the broadcast. Thom Tillis called it “beyond disgusting.” Lisa Murkowski said it “would give this individual… the martyrdom he seeks.” John Curtis said: “Broadcasting a death diminishes us… I urge him to reconsider.” Vice President Vance said: “If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the question is outside the FCC’s authority. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops called the plan “a barbaric promotion of a culture of death.” The UN and Amnesty International also condemned it.

The legal process

Hasan, now 56 and using a wheelchair, was sentenced to death by court-martial in August 2013. Military death sentences need the President’s approval before they can be carried out, which is why the decision sits with the White House. The military justice system hasn’t executed anyone since John Bennett was hanged in 1961.

The Army hasn’t said where the execution would take place. CNN reported, citing unnamed officials, that soldiers on the firing squad would likely be unable to opt out without disobeying an order.

Why it matters

The dispute is about more than one execution. It’s a public disagreement between the Defense Secretary and the President on a decision that belongs to the President, and an unusual break by Republican senators with the Pentagon weeks before an election. It also raises questions Congress may take up when it returns: whether the military needs rules on broadcasting executions, and what protections exist for service members ordered to carry them out.

What to watch

A presidential decision on whether the execution is broadcast, and any legal challenge by Hasan’s lawyers to the method or the publicity before 3 December.