On Thursday, President Donald Trump canceled the livestream of the execution of Nidel Hasan, a former U.S. army psychiatrist convicted of carrying out the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. The execution will take place as scheduled; it will not be livestreamed.
In 2013, a military court-martial convicted Hasan of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. He admitted to the shooting and described it as jihad, which he characterized as an internal struggle to live a moral and virtuous life.
Due to a recent Army regulation adopted in 2023, service members are subject to the military’s legal system, meaning that only the president can approve alternative methods of execution. The transition comes amid growing national debate and concerns over botched lethal injections and ongoing supply chain difficulties in acquiring execution drugs.
Earlier this month, President Trump authorized Hasan’s execution by firing squad.
During a podcast interview with an alt-right political activist, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth claimed that the execution would be public and livestreamed.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said.
According to Army and Pentagon officials, Hegseth’s comments led military officials, who had been planning for Hasan’s execution by lethal injection for months, scrambling to figure out how to carry out the event.
The announcement prompted significant bipartisan backlash, with many pointing out that the images could be used to fuel radicalization. The U.N. Human Rights Office warned that livestreaming the execution would amount to a public execution and violate the prohibition on torture. Lawmakers and other government officials spoke out against the livestream, claiming that public executions are hallmarks of oppressive dictatorships and should not take place in the United States.
The criticism led President Trump to later announce that the Pentagon will no longer livestream the execution. He claimed on social media that publicly airing the execution “might have been a strong deterrent for the world to witness how America deals with terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” and acknowledged that many people would rather not watch Hasan being killed.
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event won’t be streamed,” Trump said.
According to the chief Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, President Trump spoke with Hegseth about the decision ahead of the announcement.
“The secretary supports the President’s decision, and they are completely aligned,” Parnell said.
The revision was made after Trump spoke to White House advisors and other allies who expressed concern about a bloody spectacle on live television. He claimed he was not involved in the initial livestreaming decision.
The execution remains scheduled for Dec. 3 and, as noted by the president, may be viewed in person by immediate family members of the victims if they choose.
