Following bipartisan backlash, President Donald Trump announced the Pentagon will not livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
Trump shared the update on Truth Social Thursday, saying victims’ families are welcome to attend in person, “but this event will not be streamed.”
“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” Trump wrote. “But, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
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Hasan’s execution
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Hasan’s execution would be livestreamed last week, saying it was a “no brainer” that would be symbolic.
Hasan was sentenced to death after the incident on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. Then-Army Maj. Hasan opened fire inside a medical building at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding 32 more. Witnesses said he yelled “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” before the shooting — which has been classified as a terror attack.
“Army Major betrays his country, radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood – of course we’re gonna do it at Fort Hood and do it on a Thursday, we’re gonna do it at 1 o’clock – which is when he did it,” Hegseth said. “And it’s gonna be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad.”
With his execution scheduled for December, Hasan will be the first person put to death under the military justice system since 1961 and the first service member to be executed by firing squad since World War II.
Backlash following livestream announcement
After Hegseth announced the execution would be streamed, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle spoke out against the move.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called the decision “disgusting,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said it would glorify violence, and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., compared the execution to something “oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do.”
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