Pentagon Says Fort Hood Shooter's Firing Squad Execution Will Be Livestreamed, Sparking Global Outcry

The United States is preparing to carry out what would be its first publicly broadcast execution in nearly a hundred years, after Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the firing squad death of a former Army major will be livestreamed. A Defence Department official told the BBC that the execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 unarmed soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, would be shown to the public. The announcement has triggered condemnation from human rights bodies, religious leaders and politicians, and raised difficult legal questions about whether the plan can proceed at all.

Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist from Virginia, admitted carrying out the shooting inside a crowded medical building at Fort Hood in Texas. During his 2013 court martial he apologised for "any mistakes" and said he believed he was acting to protect Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was sentenced to death for the attack, which remains one of the deadliest mass shootings on a US military installation.

The Pentagon disclosed earlier this week that it intended to execute Hasan, marking the first military execution in more than 60 years. The sentence is scheduled to be carried out at Fort Hood on 3 December. According to military law, a military execution requires approval from the US president, as well as an appellate review in which a higher court inspects the decision and issues a final judgement on whether it can legally go ahead.

Hegseth, speaking to the conservative television outlet Real America's Voice, said Hasan was "gonna get a firing squad of soldiers – as it should be". Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests or attempted to contact President Donald Trump, Hegseth replied: "Don't care. We'll see him on December 3rd." A Pentagon spokesperson said on Monday that Trump had approved the defence secretary's recommendation. The BBC has asked the White House whether the president supports a livestreamed public execution.

Trump said on Friday that he believed Hasan deserved to die by firing squad, though he did not refer to the livestreaming plan. Speaking at an event ahead of a federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus, the president remarked that in the 1900s "we had really strong laws", adding that today "you can do almost anything. Nothing happens. But we're changing that."

The decision to broadcast the execution has drawn sharp criticism. The UN human rights office told AFP that livestreaming it would be "tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture". Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN the idea was "disgusting" and reminded him of executions carried out by the Islamic State group. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops also condemned the move, expressing "shock and great sorrow". Archbishop and conference president Paul Coakley said Hasan's actions could not be condoned "in no way", but described the decision as "a barbaric promotion of a culture of death" that "must be reconsidered".

John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death, said the decision to livestream was "unprecedented in the modern era" and rested on "uncertain legal terrain". He argued that the appellate process for Hasan was not complete and that the condemned man was likely to seek a review of his conviction and sentence in federal court, which would probably stay the execution. Mills added that he "would be surprised if the execution happened", calling the push for a livestreamed firing squad "little more than attention-seeking by the Trump administration" and saying it was "unlikely to occur, much less deliver any semblance of justice".

Hegseth, for his part, defended the plan with a blunt warning. "People need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," he said. His comments reflect an administration that has publicly embraced capital punishment and signalled a willingness to break with long-standing practice on how executions are witnessed and reported.

Not everyone opposed to Hasan supports the secrecy argument. Alonzo Lunsford, a former US Army sergeant who was shot seven times during the Fort Hood attack, told the BBC's Today programme that he backed the firing squad as a method "befitting" the crime. He said he did not believe everyone should be able to watch the livestream, citing concerns about the message it might send to younger people, but insisted that those directly affected should be allowed to witness it. "As far as the families of the fallen and the families of the survivors, and the survivors themselves, yes, I think we should be able to look at it uncensored," he said.

Lunsford said he planned to attend the execution and wanted Hasan to look him in the eyes before the trigger was pulled. "I want him to know he failed. I'm still here," he said. His position illustrates the emotional divide among survivors, some of whom see the public broadcast as a form of accountability while others fear it will become a spectacle.

If it goes ahead, the execution would be the first military execution by firing squad since the end of World War Two. It would also be the first public execution in the US in almost a century, a milestone that has no clear precedent in modern American law. Certain states require some form of public viewing of executions, with many mandating that journalists be present and allowing the condemned person to invite guests. Some jurisdictions permit ordinary citizens to volunteer as witnesses. But according to the source material, "there hasn't ever been a livestreamed execution".

The global context is equally stark. More than 2,700 executions were recorded across 17 countries last year, yet only two nations carried them out publicly. Amnesty International reported that eleven public executions were known to have taken place in Iran in 2025, along with another six in Afghanistan. The rarity of public executions worldwide makes the US proposal a striking departure from international norms, and the criticism from the UN human rights office underscores how far the plan sits outside established practice.

With the scheduled date still months away, the legal and political battles are likely to intensify. Court challenges, appellate reviews and federal filings could all delay or halt the execution, while the administration's determination to broadcast it has already turned a long-running death penalty case into a broader referendum on transparency, deterrence and the limits of state power. For the families of the 13 soldiers killed at Fort Hood, and for the survivors still carrying physical and psychological wounds, the coming weeks will bring renewed attention to a tragedy that many had hoped to leave behind.