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Hegseth Plans to Livestream Hasan Execution Draws Backlash
Confirmed
In Short: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan has faced widespread criticism.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.
Hegseth, in an interview with Real America’s Voice network, said the execution would be public to demonstrate serious consequences for such acts.
Palmer Luckey, co-founder of military technology company Anduril Industries, defended Hegseth's plan, citing historical precedents like George Washington's use of public executions to reinforce military discipline.
President Donald Trump, however, canceled the livestreaming plan after widespread backlash from both Republicans and Democrats.
The execution, set for December 3, will be the first military execution in over 65 years and the first by firing squad since World War II.
Stanford Law School's John Donohue III noted that Hegseth's proposal raises questions about its effectiveness in deterring similar atrocities.
Elisabeth Semel, co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley Law, expressed concerns about the legal and public policy implications of the livestreaming.
The Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the plan, stating that it would neither honor victims nor bring healing.
Former officials warned that a livestream could serve as a recruiting tool for terrorists.
Hegseth, a Trump appointee and member of a conservative evangelical denomination, has invoked Christian language in discussions about the Iran war and led prayer services at the Pentagon.
What this adds
The Pentagon's decision to livestream the execution has drawn strong condemnation from religious leaders and legal experts.
Hegseth's invocation of historical precedents and religious language in defense of the plan has further polarized public opinion.
Background
The Pentagon's announcement to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, has drawn strong condemnation from religious leaders across the country.
What's confirmed
- Set us as preferred In confirming his plans to livestream Ft. Hood mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan’s military execution by firing squad on Dec. 3, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it a “no brainer” punishment for a “radical Islamist terror attack” on U.S. service members.
- “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand [that] there are serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said in an interview with Real America’s Voice network.
- President Donald Trump said Thursday that the government will not livestream the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan — canceling a plan announced last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- 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.
- Hegseth, speaking to the conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice on Wednesday, said, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.” Officials in the Pentagon clarified Thursday that the execution would be livestreamed and that more details would follow.
- The revelation from Hegseth about the public nature of the execution — let alone one as violent as a firing squad — has raised further questions about how the death penalty is carried out in the U.S., especially after the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee.
What's still developing
- So on November 5 of 2009, a U.S. Army major named Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and injured another 32 in what's since been called the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001.
- AILSA CHANG, HOST: It has been 90 years since the U.S.
- Now, Hegseth is making clear the public will be able to watch it.
- Hasan’s attack left 13 dead and numerous others wounded as he shouted, “Allahu Akbar,” while committing the atrocity.
- I could argue Hegseth and Trump murdered 120 schoolchildren in Iran is evil.
- Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests, Hegseth replied: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3.” ….Media have sought to televise US executions?in the past, but have been blocked by the courts.
- Hegseth was speaking to right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec on board the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which ended a nearly 10-month deployment on Thursday. "People need to understand that there's serious consequence for these types of things," Hegseth said. Hasan's execution will be the first by the US military since 1961, and will be the first to be done by firing squad since World War II. Hegseth added: "I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was win."
- Kudos to Trump and Hegseth, who have now done the thing the sentence required.
- Hegseth has brushed off Pope Leo's criticism of the war.