72 retired US generals and admirals urge Pentagon to cancel execution livestream

The open letter

A group of 72 retired officers, including 45 generals, 12 admirals and several former judge advocates general, has urged the US government to scrap plans to livestream an execution. The open letter was released on Wednesday, 14 October. The signatories say they do not oppose the death penalty itself. Their objection is to the broadcast, which they argue would breach constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment and turn a solemn penalty into a spectacle for voyeurs and spectators. They warn that the footage could be used by the nation's enemies to stoke hatred and to harm American soldiers and citizens. They also say it would make Hasan a martyr for killing his fellow soldiers, and that it would stain the honour of the military that carries it out. The signatories include officers who retired during Trump's first term, and some also served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The planned broadcast

The Pentagon announced in early October that it would publicly broadcast the execution, scheduled for 3 December. The condemned man is Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who shot dead 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009 and wounded 32 others. In court, Hasan said he carried out the attack because he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from the US military. The BBC describes the Fort Hood attack as the deadliest ever non-combat attack on an American military base. Hasan was shot during the assault and now uses a wheelchair. The execution will be carried out by firing squad, and the letter calls the planned broadcast a barbaric abuse of authority.

Administration divided

Trump said in early October that he "absolutely" approved of the livestream plan. Some administration officials now appear to oppose it. As of Tuesday, 13 October, Trump had not made a final decision on the broadcast. Lawmakers from both major parties and religious leaders have also criticised the plan. The decision remains open, with the execution still set for 3 December.

Critics and the wider debate

Pete Hegseth, the secretary for war, argues that people need to understand the serious consequences of such acts. A New Statesman commentary takes a harsher view, presenting the plan as a bid to prove America's masculine vitality and arguing that Trump turns politics into entertainment. The commentary also says parts of the media are describing the plan as simply a return to public executions. It recalls Charles Dickens, who argued that private executions in US prison yards denied the condemned man an audience, unlike the public executions he had seen in Britain.