US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the military execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will be carried out by firing squad and livestreamed to the public.
Hegseth told Real America’s Voice that the execution would take place at Fort Hood, Texas at 1pm on Thursday, 3 December, and that it should be public so people understand the consequences of such attacks.
A Defence Department official later confirmed the department planned to make the execution widely available online.
Hasan, an army psychiatrist, killed 13 people at a Fort Hood medical processing centre on 5 November 2009, and was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013.
He has been held at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas since his conviction, exhausted his appeals last year, and the sentence was approved by Donald Trump on a recommendation from Hegseth.
The announcement would mark the first US military execution in more than 60 years, and Press Review reporting noted the last comparable military execution occurred in April 1961.
Backlash Human Rights And Political Reactions
The plan drew swift bipartisan criticism from lawmakers, rights groups and international bodies.
On CNN Senator Chris Murphy called livestreaming a public execution “disgusting” and compared it to tactics used by terrorist groups.
Senator Thom Tillis said public executions belonged to “oppressive dictators” but added Hasan should still face the death penalty.
Representative Betty McCollum described the proposal as “appalling and unbecoming of the US military,” while Senator Patty Murray urged the Pentagon to revoke the decision and warned against glorifying violence.
Human rights organisations also protested. Amnesty International Australia said livestreaming an execution showed a disregard for human dignity and urged Australia’s prime minister to press the US to reverse course.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights told AFP that livestreaming an execution would amount to torture and breach prohibitions on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, drawing parallels with public executions elsewhere.
The Death Penalty Information Center noted there is no regulation or precedent for livestreaming an execution and said 135 soldiers have been executed by the US military since 1916.
Reporters also noted that New Zealand’s national censor said it could not block the planned livestream, and that rights groups cited recent statistics showing public executions have occurred in other countries in the last year.
