Donald Trump has reversed the Pentagon‘s plans to live stream the December execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 and injuring dozens of others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday, “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. He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”
When the Pentagon announced plans last week to stream the execution, it drew an immediate outcry, including from a number of religious groups and from politicians on the right and left. Trump indicated that he was reconsidering the plan in comments to reporters this week.
Had the administration followed through, it’s unlikely that any of the major networks would have carried it. There also was some question of whether such an event would have been allowed on platforms like YouTube, given its terms of service.
Trump wrote that “the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose. They deserve to witness JUSTICE!”
The execution by firing squad is scheduled for Dec. 3.
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the plans to live stream the execution “a barbaric promotion of a culture of death.”