EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
President Trump will personally decide if the execution of Fort Hood killer Nidal Malik Hasan will be publicly livestreamed.
President Trump will personally decide if the execution of Fort Hood killer Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed to the public.
- President Donald Trump will personally decide whether the upcoming December execution of convicted Fort Hood mass murderer Nidal Malik Hasan will be broadcast live nationwide. The Pentagon previously announced plans to livestream the execution by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas.
- Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, was convicted of murdering 13 people and wounding 32 others during a 2009 shooting rampage at the military installation. While Trump approved the firing squad method, he noted the question of a public broadcast remains open.
- Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump weighed the potential deterrent effect of showing the execution against traditional privacy norms. He stated he understands the military's perspective but intends to make the final determination himself.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the firing squad method, which Trump subsequently approved. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declared that judgment day for Hasan has finally arrived following years on military death row.
- Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle confirmed the execution is scheduled for December 3. If carried out, it will be the first U.S. military execution since 1961 and the first by firing squad since 1945.
- Hasan currently remains on military death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. His 2009 attack on unarmed soldiers and deploying personnel ranks among the deadliest assaults on a domestic military installation.