On December 3, the United States military plans to execute convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas, and livestream the event publicly. The United Nations and international human rights advocates have condemned the move as abhorrent and tantamount to torture.
Pentagon Confirms Public Firing Squad Execution
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed via official Pentagon accounts and media appearances that the execution of Nidal Hasan will be made public for viewers to watch. This will mark the United States military’s first execution by firing squad since World War II. President Donald Trump has expressed support for Hasan’s execution, though the White House directed all enquiries regarding the public livestream specifically to the Pentagon.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others on November 5, 2009, while working as a US Army psychiatrist at a medical facility at Fort Hood. Twelve of those killed and 30 of the wounded were soldiers waiting for medical checks before deployment. Vice President JD Vance told reporters that while the crimes were brutal, he would not be watching the livestream if it proceeds. controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope the people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,
the US vice-president told reporters.
Global Condemnation and Human Rights Warnings
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that livestreaming an execution breaches the absolute prohibition of torture and amounts to a public execution.
Critics compared the plan to practices in Iran and Afghanistan, noting that no other country is known to televise or legally livestream executions. In the US, executions have been conducted privately for roughly nine decades.
Kyinzom Dhongdue, Strategic Campaigns and Advocacy Manager at Amnesty International, stated that turning a state-sanctioned killing into a public spectacle compounds the cruelty of the death penalty.
Religious leaders also voiced opposition. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, denounced the plan as barbaric, stating that a public execution would undermine the moral fabric of the nation.
Domestic Political Rift and Legal Scrutiny
The announcement created divisions across the political landscape in the United States. Republican Senator Thom Tillis posted on social media that public executions resemble the actions of oppressive dictatorships, calling the streaming plan beyond disgusting. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN that the approach mimics extremist groups like ISIS and described public executions as medieval. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, similarly called the plan disturbing.
| Key Figure / Entity | Stance / Action | Source Attribution |
|---|---|---|
| Pete Hegseth | Confirmed the firing squad execution will be livestreamed publicly. | Pentagon |
| UN Human Rights Office | Warned that livestreaming breaches the absolute prohibition of torture. | UN / AFP |
| Thom Tillis | Stated that public executions belong to oppressive dictatorships. | Reuters |
| Chris Murphy | Accused defense officials of mimicking extremist groups with medieval tactics. | CNN |
| Archbishop Paul S. Coakley | Condemned the plan as a barbaric promotion of a culture of death. | OSV News |
Former US Army sergeant Alonzo Lunsford, who survived being shot seven times during the 2009 attack, told the BBC that while he agreed with the sentence, he said he was concerned about the execution being livestreamed. He plans to attend in person to look Hasan in the eyes.
Legal analysts noted that potential appeals and challenges in civilian court could still delay the proceedings beyond the scheduled December 3 date.
Catholic Teaching and Institutional Stances on Capital Punishment
In his 2020 encyclical, Fratelli Tutti,
Pope Francis cited the teaching of St. John Paul II, writing that his predecessor stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.
In his statement, Archbishop Coakley added, I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington.
