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On Oct. 8, Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth expressed his plan to livestream the execution of mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people and injured 32 others at Fort Hood in 2009, but it appears that President Donald Trump has voiced opposition to this plan. This is after Trump “absolutely” approved the plan the previous week.
On Thursday, Oct. 15, Trump posted on social media, “I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
This is the first military execution in 65 years, and the first execution by firing squad since 1945, when Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion.
If the execution had aired, it would’ve been the first public execution in over 90 years. The last public execution was in 1937 when Roscoe “Red” Jackson was hanged in Missouri.
However, people have pointed out that public deaths and executions are nothing new. “What Derek Chauvin did to George Floyd was a public extrajudicial execution,” said theleftistlawyer on threads. Keep that in mind when you say we haven’t had a public execution since 1936. We have, actually. Many times. They’re called police murders.”
Pete Hegseth announced his intention to livestream the execution by firing squad in an interview with Jack Posobiec of Real America’s Voice. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
People immediately expressed opposition in a public outcry. Special to USA TODAY Andrew P. Napolitano quoted Voltaire and wrote, “Hegseth’s public execution is a repulsive vision of power…. There is something profoundly disturbing about officials who would turn a human death into a public performance. What lesson would such a livestream teach? That the state is entitled to kill, that its violence deserves an audience, and that adults and children should watch with approval as the life of a powerless, wheelchair-bound prisoner is extinguished by military sharpshooters?”
“It’s all for shock, and we don’t need that. We’re better than that,” Bruce Gonka, a 70-year-old Republican from New York, told Raw Story.
According to a poll conducted by the Washington Post, eight in ten Americans say that the gunman should not be livestreamed to the public. 43% of those who want him executed are self-identified Republicans.
It’s not just ordinary Americans who oppose the execution being livestreamed. 72 retired military personnel wrote a letter to Trump saying, “We ask the President, our Congressional representatives and our fellow citizens to act to prevent this barbaric abuse of authority.” They also claimed the execution would turn Malik Hassan into a martyr.
JD Vance also cast doubt over the execution, saying that while the death penalty was worthy of him, he would not be watching the execution. Mike Johnson also opposed the plan, fearing the execution would fuel the fire for those with terrorist ideas.
While the execution won’t be livestreamed, it will take place on Dec. 3, 2026.
Emily Rutz is an English Major and Minors in Professional and Technical Writing and Creative Writing. ER1034711@wcupa.edu.