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Pentagon to Livestream First Military Execution Since WWII
Confirmed
In Short: The Pentagon announced Thursday that it will livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the first military execution since World War II, set for December 3 at Fort Hood.
Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, will be executed by firing squad, a method not used by the military since 1945.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed the livestreaming plans, stating, 'Judgment day for Hasan has finally come.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be public and transparent, adding, 'We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it.'
The decision to livestream the execution has raised legal and ethical concerns. Deborah Denno, a death penalty expert, said it could make the process 'much more transparent,' while Elisabeth Semel, co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley Law, expressed skepticism about the administration's motives.
Hegseth said the execution would take place at Fort Hood, the same location where the shooting occurred, on a Thursday at 1 p.m., the time of the original incident.
Hasan, who represented himself during his trial, had previously told military mental health workers he could still be a martyr if executed, indicating he may resist the execution and file a habeas petition in civilian court.
The livestreaming of the execution is unprecedented and could set a precedent for future military executions.
The decision to execute Hasan by firing squad comes amid ongoing debates about the death penalty and its methods, with states struggling to obtain execution drugs due to European pharmaceutical companies blocking their use.
Legal experts noted that the execution could outlast the current administration, and the next one may not have the same stance on executions.
What this adds
The livestreaming of the execution is unprecedented and could set a precedent for future military executions.
What's confirmed
- The Army announced this week that the execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 after Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009.
- Army has set an execution date of December 3 for Nidal Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people in a mass shooting on the Fort Hood military base in 2009.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday the public would be able to watch the firing squad execution of a former Army officer convicted of a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.
- Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the news on X Monday night, writing, "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come."
- Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell had said Monday that President Donald Trump had approved the execution of Hasan.
- “Of course we’re going to do it at Fort Hood. We’re going to do it on a Thursday, we’re going to do it at one o’clock, which is when he did it, and it’s going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad,” Hegseth said.
What's still developing
- “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping,” Trump told reporters on Jan. 14.
- “I think it could possibly be a good idea because it would be transparent and the public would be fully aware that it’s happening,” she said.
- After firing his lawyers and representing himself, Hasan began his portion of the trial by telling jurors he was the gunman.
- On the other hand, Elisabeth Semel, co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley Law, said Hegseth’s announcement raises a host of legal and public policy questions, including concerns for the dignity of the defendant, who will be eligible to view the execution and what the Trump administration has in mind in opting for an unusual spectacle.
- Trump, who approved Hasan’s execution, has previously been critical of public executions in Iran, at times using the possibility of protesters being killed by the Iranian government as a possible rationale for military action.
- “This is a president who’s about spectacle and that’s, I think, precisely the message that he intends to deliver,” Semel said, adding that she was skeptical that the administration had given second thought to the legal and social questions being presented by the decision.
- The first military execution in more than six decades will be livestreamed, according to Pentagon officials.
- In a statement to the Washington Examiner, a War Department official said the execution will be livestreamed and that further details will follow in the near future.
- Judges Karen Moore and Jane Stranch agreed to pause the execution, and Judge Richard Griffin dissented, or disagreed, with the ruling.
- A few hours after the failed attempt, Gov. Bill Lee announced he was halting further executions, including one set for December, and requesting a third party to look into what happened and how it could be fixed.
- (NEW YORK) — The execution of the only woman on Tennessee’s death row was paused at the 11th hour as a federal appeals court reviews the case.
- After a second botched execution in Tennessee this year, the Catholic Mobilizing Network is renewing its call to end the death penalty.