President Donald Trump on Thursday said the execution by firing squad of a former U.S. Army major, Nidal Malik Hasan, who shot 13 dead and injured 32 others will not be live-streamed.
Mr Trump on social media overruled U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who earlier said Mr Hasan’s death by firing squad would be livestreamed.
The President said Mr Hasan “will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” decribing him as “a traitor, is a very bad and evil man.”
The American president said though he felt livestreaming the execution of Mr Hasan would serve as a lesson for how American treats terrorists, many opposed the idea.
“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan 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.
He added, “The execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose. They deserve to witness JUSTICE!”
Mr Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on December 3. Popularly called the “Fort Hood shooter” after the incident, Mr Hasan, a U.S.-born Arab American of Palestinian descent, was convicted of mass murder after perpetrating the Fort Hood shooting on November 5, 2009.
Court-martialled in 2013, Mr Hasan was convicted of mass murder and remained in detention on death row at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after losing appeal to the Supreme Court.
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