Pentagon plans public broadcast
The execution of Nidal Hasan, who fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, will be livestreamed, according to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Speaking to conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice, Hegseth stated that the public needs to understand the serious consequences of such actions, adding that Hasan is “gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be.”
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell stated that Hegseth made the recommendation and President Donald Trump approved it. The secretary of the US Army announced that the execution is scheduled for 3 December at Fort Hood in Texas. It marks the first military execution in more than 60 years and the first by firing squad since the end of World War Two.
Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist from Virginia, admitted during his 2013 court-martial to being the gunman in the deadliest non-combat attack on an American military base, stating he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban.
Legal terrain and precedent
Legal experts note that there is no modern-era precedent for a public execution. John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death, described the plan as “designed to be a grotesque spectacle” and “on uncertain legal terrain.” Mills noted that Hasan’s appellate process is not finished and he is likely to seek review in federal court, which could stay the execution.
Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University who studies execution methods, stated that no execution has ever been livestreamed before. She noted that while certain states permit various forms of viewing, a livestream would enforce an unprecedented level of transparency and force people to confront how the death penalty is conducted.
Historical context
The last US military execution took place in 1961, when an Army private was hanged after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old Austrian girl. The last military execution by firing squad occurred in January 1945, when US Army deserter Eddie Slovik was shot.
While Trump has not previously advocated publicly for a public execution, he has long supported the death penalty. Following his return to office, Trump overturned the previous administration’s moratorium on federal executions and signed an executive order aimed at restoring capital punishment.
