Seung Min Kim
Updated ,first published
Washington: US President Donald Trump says the Pentagon will no longer live-stream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, after the announcement faced bipartisan criticism and Vice President JD Vance said he wouldn’t watch it.
Trump said on social media on Thursday (US time) that publicly airing the execution “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan”.
But, he continued, “any very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device”.
The Pentagon has said Hasan’s execution is scheduled for December 3.
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” Trump said. “That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose.”
The announcement earlier this month from Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that Hasan’s execution would be public – and subsequent confirmation from the Pentagon that it would be live-streamed – prompted significant blowback from both Republicans and Democrats, with many pointing out that the images could be used to fuel radicalisation.
The Pentagon on Thursday declined to elaborate beyond Trump’s statement.
When asked how the public execution comported with his Christian faith earlier this month, Vance said, “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen”.
“So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Vance said, adding: “Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately live-streamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”
Vance is Catholic, and the church has long opposed capital punishment. The head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops had condemned the Trump administration’s decision to live-stream Hasan’s execution, with Archbishop Paul S. Coakley saying the move was a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered”.
Other top Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, voiced similar sentiments.
For his part, the president has defended his decision to approve the use of a firing squad, but had for days distanced himself from Hegseth’s announcement that it would be public.
“Well, they’re making a determination about that,” Trump said on Friday when asked about the live-stream. As for Hasan and the method of execution, Trump said then: “He will be killed. He will be, through firing squad. I really don’t care how he goes, as long as he goes. And I think the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him.”
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, walked into a medical building on November 5, 2009, where soldiers were waiting in long lines to receive immunisations and medical clearance for deployment. He shouted, “Allahu akbar” – Arabic for “God is great” – and opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun. He also shot at the backs of soldiers fleeing toward the parking lot.
Hasan said it was an effort to stop them from going to Afghanistan and killing his fellow Muslims. A military judge barred him from presenting that as a defence during his 2013 trial. Hasan was left paralysed from the waist down after being shot in the back by law enforcement, and he now uses a wheelchair.
Hasan could seek a lengthy delay of his execution, though given his behaviour at trial, he may not want to.
The US military hasn’t executed a service member by firing squad since World War II. The last military execution took place on April 13, 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was executed by hanging.
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