Pentagon to livestream military execution of Fort Hood shooter after 60 years

The Pentagon will livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, Texas, at 1pm on Thursday, 3 December. This marks the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years. The announcement triggered immediate criticism from lawmakers and international bodies over the decision to broadcast a state-sanctioned killing.

Hasan, a former army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded dozens at the Texas base on 5 November 2009. A military jury sentenced him to death in 2013. He exhausted his appeals at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas last year. President Donald Trump approved the execution this week following a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth argued that transparency is necessary to show the real cost of violence. "It was a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks, and so he’s going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand there’s serious consequences for these types of things," he said.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers quickly rejected the plan. They argued that turning a federal execution into a broadcast event glorifies violence and contradicts American values. Lawmakers noted the U.S. has not held a public execution since 1936, and the Army has not used a firing squad since World War II. Critics warned that exposing the public to state violence sets a dangerous precedent.

The United Nations stated that livestreaming the execution would amount to torture. New Zealand’s national censor noted it lacks legal authority to block the broadcast. The Pentagon's announcement concludes a long legal process but immediately sparked a new debate over transparency, punishment, and the limits of government power.