President Trump on Thursday canceled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan amid a growing chorus of opposition from religious figures, political leaders and a wide swath of the American public.
The president said the Dec. 3 execution of the former Army major and psychiatrist, who had embraced violent jihadi ideology, will continue as scheduled, but will not be available for online viewing.
Mr. Trump said he believed streaming the execution might have served as a strong deterrent, allowing the world to witness “how America deals with terrorists and scum like Hasan.”
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“But many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming or through any other visual device,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”
The family members of the victims in the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting will be able to view the execution in person, despite the cancellation of the livestream.
“They deserve to witness justice,” the president said.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the president and Mr. Hegseth discussed the decision not to livestream Hasan’s execution ahead of Mr. Trump’s social media announcement.
“The secretary [of defense] supports the president’s decision, and they are completely aligned,” Mr. Parnell said in a statement.
Hasan killed 13 people — including a pregnant soldier — and wounded 32 others at the sprawling central Texas Army post before he was shot by arriving law enforcement officers.
Hasan, who acknowledged that he was influenced by violent jihadi ideology, was paralyzed after being shot by a responding police officer and now requires a wheelchair.
Pope Leo XIV weighed in this month against the death penalty itself without referring to Hasan or the livestream of the firing squad. The U.S.-born pope called capital punishment “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”
Yet numerous Catholic prelates have strongly denounced the proposed livestream.
“It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War’s decision to publicly livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, referring to the Trump administration’s unofficial name for the Defense Department.
“In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned, but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,” the archbishop said.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees Catholic pastoral services in the U.S. military, had urged Catholic soldiers assigned to the firing squad to be excused from that duty, describing the execution as being against the teachings of the church.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Mr. Trump made the correct decision to call off the livestream.
“Still, this episode highlights the impulsive and dysfunctional civilian leadership from the White House and U.S. Department of Defense,” Mr. Reed said Thursday.
He said Mr. Hegseth deserves to be admonished for his lack of judgment.
“Not just in regard to this one episode but throughout his disastrous tenure as secretary,” Mr. Reed said.
Last week, Mr. Hegseth told the news site Real America’s Voice that the Pentagon would make Hasan’s execution public.
“He’s going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be. We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Mr. Hegseth said. “People need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things.”
Bipartisan backlash over the plan erupted.
Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, said Hasan deserves death but that a public broadcast of his execution would be “beyond disgusting.”
“Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening here,” Mr. Tillis said.
Rep. Austin Scott, Georgia Republican, said that although he “absolutely” supports Hasan receiving the death sentence, “livestream executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said he was concerned that a livestream could serve as a recruiting tool for terrorists.
“We’ve got to think through the policy implications of all that,” Mr. Johnson told CBS News.
Dozens of retired U.S. generals and admirals signed an open letter calling on the Trump administration to cancel the livestream, saying it would provide a global platform for jihadi propaganda and could harm U.S. military personnel overseas.
“It will be used by our nation’s enemies to stoke hatred, harm American soldiers and citizens in the future,” the 72 former military leaders wrote. It “will ensure that Hasan becomes a martyr for attacking and killing his fellow soldiers.”
According to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted Oct. 9-13, 80% of respondents said the execution should not be livestreamed for the public to watch.
The president earlier this month said he “absolutely” approved the execution, giving Mr. Hegseth’s firing squad recommendation the OK. On the following day, however, he said he had not made a final decision.
Vice President J.D. Vance, though, had said if the execution were shown “through livestream, I’m not going to be watching it.”
This will be the first execution by the military since 1961 and the first by firing squad since 1945.
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