Pentagon to livestream firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan on 3 December

Pentagon confirms livestream

The Pentagon has confirmed that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted over the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, will be livestreamed. Hasan is scheduled to be executed on 3 December at Fort Hood, Texas. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would take place at 1 p.m. on a Thursday at the base, a timing he linked to Hasan's own actions. President Donald Trump approved the execution on Hegseth's recommendation, the Pentagon said on Monday, while the White House declined to say whether Trump supports the livestream and referred questions to the Pentagon. Hegseth framed the broadcast as a matter of public accountability.

We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand there's serious consequences for these types of things.

Hegseth also called the firing squad a "no-brainer" and said that it was a practice not used since the Second World War. A Pentagon official told AFP the execution would be transmitted live, with more details to follow.

The case against Hasan

Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood. Open reports that he opened fire on 5 November 2009 in a medical clinic on the base, where soldiers were waiting for final checks. He was wounded in the shooting, leaving him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. His court-martial began in August 2013, when he admitted he was the gunman. He was found guilty on all 45 charges and sentenced to death on 28 August.

Hegseth described the attack as "a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks" and said Hasan would face a firing squad of soldiers. Reuters reports that Hegseth called the choice of a firing squad a matter of tradition, comparing it to practice from the Second World War era.

Objections from abroad

New Zealand's Classification Office said it cannot classify a livestream while it is taking place and that no body has the authority to block one. The country's Chief Censor, Caroline Flora, said the threshold for banning content is high. The news carries extra weight in New Zealand, where a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in 2019 and livestreamed the attack on Facebook.

The Classification Office cannot classify a livestream event as it is taking place, and we, nor any other body, has the authority to block access to a livestream event.

The threshold for banning content under New Zealand law is high and requires that we balance freedom of expression with the likelihood of harm.

The UN human rights office said livestreaming an execution is equivalent to a public execution and would violate the absolute prohibition of torture. Amnesty International Australia urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to press Washington to reverse the decision. The president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops called the decision a barbaric promotion of a culture of death that must be reconsidered. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, called the decision repugnant.

Warnings from psychiatrists

Mental health experts told the Guardian that watching the execution could cause post-traumatic stress disorder in viewers. Dr Simon Duff, a forensic psychologist at the University of Nottingham, cited studies of journalists who witnessed violence, which suggested evidence of trauma response. He also pointed to the failed lethal injection of Christa Pike in the US as evidence that executions do not always go to plan.

Certainly if people are not resilient they probably shouldn't [watch], but if they have some underlying psychological driver towards viewing an execution they will likely do so regardless of the potential for harm.

Neil Greenberg, a professor of defence mental health at King's College London, said trigger warnings do not routinely lead people to avoid distressing media. He warned that viewers may suffer anticipatory anxiety, and that people with existing mental health problems are especially at risk.

My advice would be not to watch the event at all.

Public executions in context

Amnesty International counts at least 17 public executions in 2025, six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran. The last US military execution took place in 1961, when John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder, according to AFP. ANSA reports that the United States has not carried out a public execution in 90 years. Hasan's execution would be the first by firing squad carried out by the US military since 1945, according to Reuters.