Trump cancels Pentagon plan to livestream Fort Hood execution

Nidal Hasan remains scheduled to die by firing squad on December 3, but the public broadcast was withdrawn after widespread political criticism.

President Donald Trump called off a Pentagon initiative to publicly livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, halting plans for what would have been the first public execution in the United States in 90 years.¹² Hasan remains scheduled to die by firing squad on December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others in 2009.¹³ The execution will proceed at the base, and relatives of the victims will be permitted to view the proceedings in person.¹⁴

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth initiated the public broadcast proposal during an appearance aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.³¹ Hegseth said Hasan was going to get a firing squad of soldiers, arguing that making the proceedings viewable to the public would reinforce serious consequences for such attacks.³¹ The Department of Defense backed that announcement and stated that technical details for the broadcast would follow.¹²

Political backlash and internal concerns

Opposition to the livestream emerged quickly across party lines, drawing objections from lawmakers, religious figures, and military veterans. A national poll conducted on the morning of the cancellation showed that eight in 10 Americans opposed broadcasting the execution, including 55 percent of self-identified MAGA Republicans.¹⁴ Several lawmakers argued that state-sponsored public executions ran counter to American traditions and mirrored practices used by authoritarian governments.⁴

Vice President JD Vance also signaled discomfort with the broadcast ahead of the decision, telling reporters that he would not watch if the execution aired.¹² Inside the administration, aides weighed concerns that transmitting video of the execution could damage the international standing of the United States and generate anti-American propaganda.¹⁴ Other administrative complications surfaced during internal discussions, including broadcast restrictions on major platforms regarding violent content and the hazard of exposing the identities of active-duty soldiers assigned to the firing squad.¹

Trump ultimately intervened on his social media platform, confirming that Hasan will die as scheduled by firing squad, but stated that the event will not be streamed.¹⁴ Trump said that while a broadcast might have served as a deterrent, many well-meaning people preferred not to watch an execution through visual devices.¹⁴ Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell later stated that Hegseth and Trump spoke prior to the announcement and were completely aligned on withdrawing the livestream.⁴

Legal precedent and historical context

Public executions in the United States largely ended in the early 20th century as jurisdictions moved capital punishment behind prison walls to avoid sensational public spectacles. The last widely recognized public execution occurred in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1936, when roughly 20,000 spectators gathered to witness the hanging of Rainey Bethea.²⁴ In modern military history, the last execution of any service member took place in April 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged following a rape and attempted murder conviction.³⁵ The military last carried out an execution by firing squad in 1945, when Pvt. Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion during World War II.³⁵

Hasan was sentenced to death by an Army court-martial in 2013 after opening fire in a military processing center where soldiers were preparing for deployment.³⁵ Investigators recovered 146 shell casings inside the building.⁵ Shot during the confrontation, Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down and has used a wheelchair while confined to death row.³¹ Legal specialists have noted that Hasan retains the option to challenge the execution method through a habeas corpus petition in civilian federal court, a legal step that could extend the timeline beyond December.³⁵

Survivors welcome the cancellation

Survivors of the Fort Hood shooting expressed relief over the decision to abandon the livestream.⁴ Former Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times during the attack, said the cancellation showed that the nation could demonstrate restraint and avoid sensationalism. Former Army Spc. Keara Torkelson, who was wounded in the back and head during the rampage, said justice did not require public broadcasting and that survivors should not have their trauma turned into an open spectacle.⁴

Civilian defense counsel John Galligan, who has represented Hasan, called the reversal unsurprising and said that attempting to broadcast the event ran counter to military regulations.⁴ The Defense Department confirmed that the execution protocol will now proceed without cameras, restricting attendance to designated official witnesses and the families of those killed in the attack.¹⁴

Save this story

The record

28 sentences trace to 5 sources.

All 5Documents 1Records 0Reporting 4People 0

1. 1 AB Ashley Belanger Document · arstechnica.com · 15 Oct 2026 Trump cancels Pentagon plans to livestream firing squad execution See the source
2. 2 N NPR Third-party reporting · npr.org · 9 Oct 2026 The U.S. last held a public execution in the 1930s. The Pentagon wants to change that See the source
3. 3 NN NBC News Third-party reporting · nbcnews.com · 8 Oct 2026 Pentagon says there will be a livestream of firing squad’s execution of the Fort Hood shooter See the source
4. 4 AN ABC News Third-party reporting · abcnews.com · 15 Oct 2026 Trump announces Nidal Hasan execution 'will not be streamed' See the source
5. 5 P pbs.org Third-party reporting · pbs.org Pentagon says firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed See the source