Fort Hood shooter’s planned execution would be publicly livestreamed, Pentagon official says
Sandego.net – The planned execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, is expected to be made publicly available through a livestream, a Pentagon official said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that visibility was an important part of the punishment. Speaking with far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday, Hegseth said the public should be able to witness the event because of the gravity of Hasan’s crimes.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
Officials have not yet provided operational details about how the livestream would work, who could access it, or what portion of the execution might be shown. Earlier Thursday, questions about public access had been directed to the Army, which did not respond.
Execution scheduled for December 3
The Pentagon announced Monday night that Hasan would be put to death by firing squad after Hegseth recommended that method and President Donald Trump approved it. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle set the execution for December 3 at 2 p.m. Eastern time, or 1 p.m. Central time, at Fort Hood.
Hegseth described the planned timing and method during the interview, tying the schedule to the hour of the 2009 attack.
“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.”
If carried out, the execution would mark the first firing-squad death sentence implemented by the US Army since World War II. The decision also places renewed attention on the military justice system, which operates separately from state criminal courts and has its own procedures for courts-martial, appeals and capital sentences.
The Army’s planned use of a firing squad is especially notable because executions within the modern US military system have been exceedingly rare. The public nature of the event, if livestreamed as described, would make the case still more unusual and is likely to raise questions about security, access rules and how the Pentagon intends to balance transparency with the solemnity of the proceeding.
A 2009 attack on deploying troops
Hasan was convicted in July 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. The charges stemmed from the November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, where troops were completing medical processing before deployments.
On the day of the attack, Hasan opened fire at the installation’s medical processing center. As people fled through a rear exit, he followed them outside and continued shooting. Police officers confronted Hasan, and an exchange of gunfire followed before he was struck.
During his trial, Hasan told a panel of 13 military officers that he had selected soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. He said those troops “were going to engage in an illegal war.”
The shooting remains one of the deadliest acts of violence ever committed on a US military installation. Its victims included service members and civilians whose lives were connected to the base community, while dozens of survivors were left with injuries from the attack.
Hegseth invokes World War II-era military resolve
In explaining his support for the execution, Hegseth pointed to what he characterized as a tougher wartime mindset from an earlier era of American military history.
“The mentality we had in World War II, which was win. Which was understand when the enemy attacks you, you stand your ground.”
His comments frame the execution as both a legal consequence for Hasan and a broader message about accountability for attacks against US troops. The case has long carried particular emotional weight within military communities because the victims were gathered at Fort Hood for deployment-related medical checks when the shooting began.
With the December 3 date approaching, the Pentagon and Army will face practical decisions that have not yet been publicly explained. Those include the format of the livestream, safeguards around the execution site and the procedures governing public observation. For now, the Pentagon has indicated that the execution will be livestreamed, while offering no further details on how that commitment will be carried out.
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