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The Pentagon said Thursday that the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed, the Associated Press reports, a step that would put the first U.S. military execution in more than 65 years in front of a public audience.
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Shop NowThe confirmation followed remarks Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made Wednesday to the conservative television outlet Real America’s Voice. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said. Pentagon officials clarified a day later that it would be livestreamed, with details to follow.
A War Department official gave Fox News Digital the same answer: “It will be livestreamed. Details will follow.” Neither report named the official or said how the stream would be carried.
The Army announced this week that Hasan will be executed at Fort Hood on Dec. 3. The former Army psychiatrist was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a 2009 shooting at the base. President Donald Trump approved the execution.
The military last carried out a death sentence on April 13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged.
Legal scholars quoted by the AP split on the plan. Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor, said a livestream could make the process far more transparent and leave the public fully aware of what capital punishment involves.
Elisabeth Semel, co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley Law, said the plan raises questions about the dignity of the defendant, who would be eligible to view the execution, and the government’s motives; she said she could not recall the government itself proposing a televised execution. Neither the AP nor Fox News quoted any member of Congress, of either party, responding to the livestream plan.
Experts told the AP that Hasan could file a habeas petition in civilian court, which could significantly delay the execution. Eugene Fidell, who lectures on military law at Yale Law School, said the case might outlast the current administration.
John Galligan, an attorney who has represented Hasan in civil matters, told the AP that Hasan has not yet had access to legal counsel and that, by Hasan’s account, a chaplain but no attorney was present when he was notified of Trump’s approval.
An Army spokeswoman said multiple attempts were made to reach defense attorneys, that policy was followed, and that Hasan has not been kept from contacting counsel.
Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests, Hegseth said he did not care.
