The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that the upcoming firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed for public viewing, marking an extraordinary and unprecedented step in American capital punishment history.
The Army announced this week that Hasan is scheduled to be executed at Fort Hood on December 3. He was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others during a 2009 mass shooting at the Texas military base.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth first signaled the public nature of the execution during an appearance on the conservative outlet Real America’s Voice on Wednesday. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public” Hegseth said. Pentagon officials followed up Thursday with confirmation that a livestream was being planned and that further logistical details would be released.
The execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military in more than 65 years. The last military execution took place in April 1961 when Army Private John Bennett was hanged.
Legal experts are divided over the decision. Fordham University law professor Deborah Denno said livestreaming could bring meaningful transparency to a process that rarely receives public scrutiny. Villanova Law professor Brenner Fissell suggested the choice of a firing squad reflects what he called Defense Secretary Hegseth’s promotion of a “lethality culture” rather than purely humanitarian concerns about execution methods.
UC Berkeley Law professor Elisabeth Semel raised sharp concerns about the government’s motivations. “This is a president who’s about spectacle” she said adding that serious legal and ethical questions remain unanswered about who will be permitted to view the execution and what the administration’s broader intent is.
Hasan was an Army psychiatrist holding the rank of major when he opened fire inside a medical building on November 5 2009 where soldiers were lined up for pre-deployment medical processing. He was shot by law enforcement and left paralyzed from the waist down. He now uses a wheelchair.
During his 2013 military trial Hasan fired his defense attorneys and represented himself. He told jurors at the outset that he was the gunman and later rested his case without calling a single witness or making a closing argument. Leaked documents revealed he told military mental health professionals he could “still be a martyr” if sentenced to death.
Legal experts say Hasan could attempt to delay the execution by filing a habeas petition in civilian court though his conduct at trial suggests he may not pursue that option.