Pentagon Says Fort Hood Attacker's Firing Squad Execution Will Be Livestreamed — Here's Why It's Controversial

The Pentagon says the planned execution of Nidal Hasan, the former US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, will be livestreamed. Legal experts say that has never been done in the US.

What Has Been Announced

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the public will be able to watch the execution, and a Defense Department official confirmed to the BBC that it would be livestreamed, as Sky News also reports.

The execution is scheduled for 3 December at Fort Hood in Texas. According to the BBC, it would be the first US military execution by firing squad since the end of World War Two. It is also believed to be the first public execution in the US in almost a century.

Hasan shot dead 13 unarmed soldiers in a crowded medical building at Fort Hood. He admitted carrying out the attack. A Pentagon spokesperson said earlier this week that President Donald Trump had approved the defense secretary's recommendation.

Hegseth told the outlet Real America's Voice that "people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," as reported by the BBC.

Why It's Controversial

The BBC reports that no execution in the US has ever been livestreamed. Some states require witnesses to be present, but a public broadcast would be a major departure.

• Critics: Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN the plan was "disgusting" and compared it to executions carried out by the Islamic State group.
• Legal experts: John Mills, a lawyer who works with death row inmates, called the decision "unprecedented in the modern era" and said it is on "uncertain legal terrain."
• A different view: Law professor Deborah Denno told the BBC a livestream would "force a level of transparency that we have probably never seen before in this country," and that supporters of the death penalty could be asked to see how it is carried out.

Denno also raised practical questions, including whether the stream would be age-restricted and whether it would breach the rules of whichever platform hosts it.

What Survivors Say

Alonzo Lunsford, a former US Army sergeant who was shot seven times in the attack, told the BBC he supports a firing squad as a method "befitting" the crime. He does not think everyone should be able to watch, because of the message it could send to younger people. He does believe the families of the victims and the survivors should be able to see it uncensored.

Lunsford says he plans to attend in person.

Will It Actually Happen?

That is far from certain. The BBC reports that Hasan's appeals process is not over. Mills said Hasan is likely to seek review in federal court, which would probably pause the execution, and that he would be surprised if it went ahead. A military execution needs presidential approval, appellate review and a final ruling on its legality.

The BBC has also asked the White House whether Trump supports a livestreamed public execution. At the time of writing, there was no answer in the sources we read.

For context, the last US military execution was in 1961, and the last by firing squad was in January 1945. Amnesty International data cited by the BBC shows only two countries carried out public executions last year: Iran (11 known) and Afghanistan (six).

What Happens Next

• Hasan's appeals and any federal court challenge could delay or stop the 3 December date.
• Questions remain about how a livestream would work and who would be allowed to watch.
• The White House has yet to respond to the BBC's question on the livestream.

Should executions ever be broadcast publicly, or does a livestream cross a line? Tell us what you think in the comments.

Sources: BBC News | Sky News