Trump scraps livestream of Fort Hood shooter's execution
The firing squad execution set for Dec. 3 will go ahead but will not be streamed, Trump said, citing "very good and well meaning people" who would rather not watch. Hegseth had said it would be public.
Archive image · Photo: JOHN BYERLY, CIV / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
President Donald Trump said Thursday on Truth Social that the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will not be livestreamed. "He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed," Trump wrote. He said streaming "might have been a strong deterrent," but that "many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die." Immediate family members of the victims will be allowed to attend in person, Global News reported.
The former Army major was convicted in the 2009 attack that killed 13 people and wounded 32. The execution is scheduled for Dec. 3 and would be the U.S. military's first in 65 years, according to Stars and Stripes. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said the execution would be public.
The plan drew bipartisan criticism, including in the wake of Christa Pike's botched lethal injection in Tennessee. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services opposed the livestream and urged Catholic service members to seek excusal from the firing squad. Vice President JD Vance had also questioned whether the Pentagon would livestream it, Stars and Stripes reported. The Pentagon did not respond to NPR's request for comment.