WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump has cancelled the planned livestream of the execution of the former US Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, saying on Oct 15 that he had overruled his defence chief who had intended it to be a public spectacle.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had announced earlier in October that Nidal Hasan would be executed by a firing squad on Dec 3 at Fort Hood in Texas, the site of Hasan’s 2009 attack, surprising many by saying it would be broadcast live.
No other country is known to televise or livestream judicial executions.
“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,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”
The families of Hasan’s victims will be able to view the execution in person if they so choose, as is standard at US executions.
Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, including Vice-President J.D. Vance, as well as religious leaders and international observers, had expressed doubts about the Pentagon’s livestream plan. Recent polls have also shown that a majority of Americans opposed live-streaming it.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the spiritual care of Catholic members of the US armed forces, also raised objections, while Pope Leo condemned capital punishment in all its forms.
Hegseth’s announcement came as capital punishment already faced renewed scrutiny after Christa Pike, convicted of murder in the 1990s, survived an execution attempt by Tennessee that left her badly injured and requiring hospitalisation.
Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, was found guilty in a military trial of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009.
Hegseth had said the broadcasting of the execution was needed to ensure people understand that “there’s serious consequences for these types of things”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS