The Pentagon says it will livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former U.S. Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution is scheduled for December 3. Pentagon officials said details about the broadcast would follow.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was also convicted in connection with injuries to 32 people. The shooting occurred inside a medical building where soldiers were receiving checkups at the base near Killeen, Texas. According to testimony described in the report, Hasan had planned the attack for weeks and practiced handling and reloading the handgun he used.
Speaking Wednesday to Real America’s Voice News while aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Hegseth said the execution would be “public” and that people would be able to watch. Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests or contacted the Trump administration, Hegseth replied that he did not care.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said earlier in the week that President Donald Trump had approved Hasan’s execution. On Thursday, the White House referred questions about the livestream plans to the Pentagon. Officials there confirmed the broadcast but did not provide additional information about how it would be made available.
At trial, evidence showed that Hasan videotaped a sales clerk demonstrating how to change magazines in his pistol. He also visited a gun range near Austin and asked an instructor for advice on reloading quickly. Soldiers testified that his rapid reloading made it difficult to stop the attack.
A firing squad execution would be unusual in modern U.S. military practice. According to the report, the military has not executed a service member by firing squad since the Second World War. Its most recent execution took place on April 13, 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged.