The Pentagon plans to livestream the firing-squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter. Vance says he would not watch
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon will livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, according to CBS, NBC and The New York Times. CBS said the execution by firing squad is planned for December. Snopes noted that a military jury sentenced Hasan to death in 2013. Reuters reported that a government execution has never been broadcast and that the military has not used a firing squad since 1945. Vice President JD Vance said he is not going to be watching and cast doubt on whether the plan will go forward, PBS and the Times reported. Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called the plan “barbaric and gratuitous,” CBS reported. Trump said Hasan “deserves” the firing squad, USA Today reported, but Reuters said he has not said whether it will be streamed.
The plan raises legal, ethical and political questions at once, and it has split Republicans. It would also be the first public execution in the U.S. in roughly 90 years, as CBS and NPR described.
Social platforms would have to decide whether to carry the footage, CBS reported. Psychiatrists told The Guardian that viewing could harm some people.
A mass killer was lawfully sentenced, and showing the punishment is a matter of transparency and deterrence.
Turning an execution into a broadcast is degrading, risks the families of victims and viewers, and undermines the dignity of the law.
Watch whether Trump weighs in, whether the Pentagon changes the plan after Vance’s comments, and whether anyone besides Hasan can bring a court challenge. Experts quoted by PBS see a narrow path.
DailyDrop U.S. No. 6 · October 10, 2026