Pentagon to Livestream Firing Squad Execution of Nidal Hasan
The military will publicly livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the first US military execution in decades. The plan sparked bipartisan backlash and international outrage.
PoliticalOS
Saturday, October 10, 2026 — Politics
The military will execute Nidal Hasan by firing squad on Dec. 3 and stream the event live, reviving a form of punishment absent from U.S. practice for nearly a century. Bipartisan political figures and military veterans have condemned the public format while the administration cites deterrence. No platform policies or technical execution details have been finalized.
What outlets missed
The articles omit any description of the military appeals process that upheld Hasan’s death sentence or the specific Army regulations governing firing-squad procedures. They provide no data on victim-family statements or polling on public support for the execution itself. International legal obligations under the Geneva Conventions or U.S. treaty commitments regarding executions receive no mention. The precise technical method for the livestream and which platforms have agreed to carry it remain unaddressed beyond platform policy statements.
The U.S. military will carry out its first execution in more than six decades when Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan faces a firing squad at Fort Hood on Dec. 3. The Pentagon announced the proceeding will be livestreamed without restrictions on viewers, marking the first public broadcast of a lawful U.S. execution. Hasan was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder for the 2009 shooting at the Texas base that also left 32 others wounded.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the decision ensures the public understands the consequences of such acts. President Trump confirmed he approved the plan. The execution date and location match the day and site of the original attack. An Army manual limits witnesses to the base commander, a chaplain, two media members, the prisoner’s family, and one victim representative, yet the livestream proposal extends access further.
Vice President JD Vance said he does not know whether the livestream will occur and would not watch it. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called the public element beyond disgusting and compared it to practices in Iran and Afghanistan. Retired Adm. James G. Stavridis said public executions are not who the United States is as a military or nation. Terrorism analysts at the Soufan Center and SITE Intelligence Group warned the footage could serve as propaganda for jihadist groups.
No military execution has occurred since 1961, and none by firing squad since 1945. The last public execution in the United States took place in Kentucky in 1936. The plan coincides with paused state executions elsewhere, including Tennessee’s recent attempt on Christa Pike that left her hospitalized after two doses of pentobarbital.
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