Overview
- The Pentagon plans to publicly livestream the December 3, 2026, firing squad execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.
- Republican and Democratic lawmakers have criticized the broadcast, warning that it could undermine the dignity of the US justice system and provide propaganda for terrorist organizations.
- The execution would be the first carried out by the US military since 1961 and could become the first publicly broadcast execution in American history, although further legal proceedings could delay it.
The Pentagon plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former US Army major convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, in a move that has drawn bipartisan criticism and raised questions about the legality of publicly broadcasting an execution.
Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas, on December 3, 2026. President Donald Trump approved the death sentence earlier in October, and the Army subsequently announced the execution date.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during an interview with conservative outlet Real America’s Voice aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that the execution would be open to public viewing.
Pentagon officials subsequently confirmed on October 8 that the execution would be livestreamed, although they did not provide details about how the broadcast would be distributed.
We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public. People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
The decision concerns the deadliest mass shooting at a US military base. On November 5, 2009, Hasan brought a personal handgun into a medical facility at Fort Hood and opened fire on military personnel preparing for deployment.
He was convicted at a 2013 court-martial and sentenced to death. Hasan represented himself during the proceedings, although civilian lawyers have remained involved in aspects of his case.
If carried out as announced, the execution would be the first by the US military since 1961 and would establish a precedent for broadcasting an American execution to the general public.
Bipartisan criticism of Pentagon execution livestream
Hegseth’s announcement prompted objections from senior Republican and Democratic lawmakers, several of whom distinguished support for Hasan’s death sentence from opposition to making the execution publicly available.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called the proposal “beyond disgusting.”
Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting. Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.
Thom Tillis of North Carolina
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the broadcast would undermine the seriousness of the legal process.
“There is a reason why we treat the meting out of justice with the seriousness it demands,” Smith said. “We are a democratic country and should take the rule of law seriously, not turn it into a spectacle.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington called for the Pentagon to withdraw the plan.
“We can seek justice in this country without glorifying violence and turning an execution into a grotesque public spectacle,” Murray wrote. “What this criminal did was abhorrent and must be punished, but we as a country cannot condone livestreaming a man’s death for entertainment.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, said the government and victims could obtain justice without producing what he described as a “snuff film.”
Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who resigned in March over the Iran war, warned that broadcasting the execution could be used by extremist organizations for recruitment.
Streaming his execution is not just a stain on our morality, it also gives the terrorists free propaganda that they will use to radicalize & recruit more terrorists like Hassan [sic].
Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center
Not every lawmaker opposed the proposal. Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee said that “public execution is what this terrorist deserves” and described the decision to broadcast it as “excellent.”
Hegseth defended the approach by referring to the US military’s attitude during World War II.
“I kind of like the mentality we had in WWII,” he said, emphasizing the importance of standing firm when attacked.
US public executions largely ended in the 1930s
Public executions were once relatively common in the United States, where they served as both punishment and public events intended to deter crime.
Michael L. Radelet, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder and a researcher of capital punishment, said historical executions sometimes attracted large crowds, including families and children.
Events could include religious sermons, choirs and final statements from condemned prisoners.
One historical account describes an execution in Leadville, Colorado, during the late 19th century, when condemned prisoner Cyrus Minich addressed spectators before his death and received a response from the crowd.
The 1936 hanging of Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky, is widely regarded as the last major public execution in the United States.
Bethea, a Black man who reportedly confessed to the rape and killing of a 70-year-old white woman, was executed before thousands of spectators. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, he was never charged with murder.
A subsequent hanging in Missouri in 1937 also attracted spectators. Roscoe “Red” Jackson was executed before hundreds of people, some of whom obtained passes while others climbed trees or attempted to watch through openings around the execution site.
The distinction between the two cases explains why 1936 is frequently cited as the end of public executions, despite the later Missouri hanging.
Radelet said states gradually abandoned public executions partly because of concerns about botched hangings and the behavior of spectators.
Instead of promoting the sanctity of life and how solemn the circumstance was, with people applauding and having a carnival-like atmosphere, that really turned people off.
The practice continues in a limited number of countries. Amnesty International has documented public executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia, while public executions have also occurred in Afghanistan and North Korea.
Videos of executions have also been used by extremist organizations, including the Islamic State, as propaganda. Such footage has often depicted prisoners who were not afforded due process.
US military has not conducted an execution since 1961
The last US military execution took place on April 13, 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.
The last execution by firing squad conducted by the US military occurred during World War II in 1945.
Although the death penalty remains legal under military law, executions are subject to a separate process that requires presidential approval.
The planned Hasan execution also raises questions about whether major online platforms would permit the broadcast.
Several US social media and streaming services prohibit content depicting executions or graphic violence. The Pentagon has not identified the platform that would carry the livestream.
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said the organization has no record of an American execution previously being livestreamed to the public.
There is currently no regulation or precedent for an execution to be livestreamed on the internet or otherwise made widely available to the public.
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center
The closest historical example occurred in June 2001, when Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed at a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft authorized a closed-circuit television transmission for survivors and relatives of victims of the 1995 bombing.
More than 200 people watched the execution through the restricted broadcast, which was not accessible to the general public.
