A group of 72 retired generals and other senior military leaders are urging the Trump administration to cancel plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people in a shooting rampage at the military base in 2009.
President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s execution by firing squad earlier in October and the Army scheduled it for December 3. Last week, the Pentagon announced the execution would be livestreamed after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview that it would be "public."
"We ask the President, our Congressional representatives, and our fellow citizens to act to prevent this barbaric abuse of authority: Livestreaming an execution debases the values, principles, and commitment to basic human dignity of our military and our nation,” the retired military officers wrote in their open letter, according to Just Security.
They wrote that while the court-martial had unanimously agreed that death was an appropriate sentence for Hasan’s crimes, it “does not relieve the Government of its responsibility to ensure that the execution complies with the Constitution and this nation’s values and beliefs.”
They argued that livestreaming the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, noting that Army regulation on execution “is designed to meet this grave responsibility.”
Livestreaming the execution “would clearly violate the basic human dignity of the condemned prisoner,” they wrote. “It turns what should be the solemn and grave punishment of a member of our society for committing the most serious crimes into a carnival for the enjoyment of voyeurs and spectators.”
It would “taint the honor of the military that employs it, and a nation that allows it,” they wrote.
They also warned that “it will be used by our nation’s enemies to stoke hatred, harm American soldiers and citizens in the future, and will ensure that Hasan becomes a martyr for attacking and killing his fellow soldiers.”
Newsweek has contacted the White House and Pentagon for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
The letter was signed by 72 retired military leaders:
General Johnnie Wilson, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant-General Charles P. Otstott, USA (Ret)
Rear Admiral John Hutson, USN (Ret)
Rear Admiral Don Guter, USN (Ret)
Rear Admiral (Lower half) Jamie Barnett, USN (Ret)
Lieutenant-General Paul T. Mikolashek, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General David R. Irvine, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General Thomas P. Barrett, USA (Ret)
Major General Walter B Huffman, USA (Ret)
Major General Charles F. Bolden, Jr., USMC (Ret)
Major General William L. Nash, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General Ed Dyer, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General Leif Hendrickson, USMC (Ret)
Lieutenant-General Claudia Kennedy, USA (Ret)
Major General Roger Mathews, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General Murray G. Sagsveen, USA (Ret)
Rear Admiral Robert E. Besal, USN (Ret)
Rear Admiral James E McPherson, USN (Ret)
Lieutenant-General Richard Kramlich, USMC (Ret)
Brigadier General David P. Carey, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant-General Jeffrey S. Buchanan, USA (Ret)
Major General Rick Devereaux, USAF (Ret)
Brigadier General Ronald D. Sullivan, USA (Ret)
Vice Admiral Mike Franken, USN (Ret)
Major General Margaret Woodward, USAF (Ret)
Brig Gen Daniel P. Woodward, USAF (Ret)
Final Hasan Open Letter 14 Oct 2026
Major General Irving Halter, USAF (Ret)
Major General David T. Zabecki, USA (Ret)
Rear Admiral Janice M. Hamby, USN (Ret)
Rear Admiral Thomas G. Lilly, USN (Ret)
Brigadier General Joseph V. Medina, USMC (Ret)
Major General Tony Taguba, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant-General Ronald R. Blanck, USA (Ret)
RDML Sandra E. Adams, USN (Ret)
Major General Frederick H. Martin, USAF (Ret)
Rear Admiral Steve Glass, USN (Ret)
Major General Randy Manner, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General Roger R. Machut, USMC (Ret)
Major General Robert A. Harding, USA (Ret)
Brigadier General Robert Felderman, USA (Ret)
Major General Gale S. Pollock, USA (Ret)
RDML Charles Hart, JUSN (Ret)
Brigadier General John Douglas, USAF (Ret)
Rear Admiral Leendert R. Hering, USN (Ret)
Brigadier General M. Scott Magers, USA (Ret)
Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, USA (Ret)
Colonel Moe Davis, USAF (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel Dru Brenner-Beck, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant ColonelLaurel Wilkerson, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant ColonelGeoffrey Corn, USA (Ret)
Colonel W. R. Gade, UA (Ret)
Colonel Laura Calese, USA (Ret)
Colonel James A. Schoettler, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel David Crane, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel Victor Hansen, USA (Ret)
Colonel David E. Graham, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Mauer, USA (Ret)
Major Michael J. Berrigan, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth DiVecchio Berrigan, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel John German, USA (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel Janet German, USA (Ret)
Colonel Mark Maxwell, USA (Ret)
Colonel Karl Michael Goetzke, USA (Ret)
Colonel Suan Gibson, USA (Ret)
Colonel Richard E. Fay, USA (Ret)
Colonel Elizabeth S. Fay, USA (Ret)
Colonel Jack P. Hug, USA (Ret)
Colonel Richard Jackson, USA (Ret)
Captain Todd Huntley, USN (Ret)
Colonel Michael Meier, USA (Ret)
Captain Carl O. Shuster, USN (Ret)
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher E. West, USA (Ret)
What Trump Has Said
Trump, a strong supporter of capital punishment, told reporters on Friday that he had personally approved the decision to livestream Hasan’s execution. "Did I approve? Absolutely," he said.
He has repeatedly defended the decision to execute Hasan by firing squad.
But Trump and his advisors are debating whether to call off plans to livestream the execution, CNN reported, citing two sources familiar with the discussions. Trump had remarked privately that he had not initially known that Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back by law enforcement and now uses a wheelchair, the sources said. That knowledge makes showing the execution publicly less agreeable to the president, the sources said.
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A Trump adviser told CNN that the president has also listened to arguments that livestreaming the execution could serve as propaganda.
“There are two thoughts: Don’t show it and show it,” Trump told reporters on Saturday. “Because, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So, I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision.”
Politicians from both sides of the aisle have condemned plans to livestream the execution. Religious leaders have also come out against the plan, with Archbishop Paul Coakley, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, calling it "a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered."
When Is Nidal Hasan's Execution?
The Army announced that Hasan’s execution will take place at Fort Hood, Texas, at 1 p.m. on December 3.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, walked into a medical building on November 5, 2009, where soldiers at Fort Hood were waiting to receive medical clearance for deployment.
He shouted "Allahu akbar"—Arabic for "God is great!”—and opened fire and also shot at soldiers fleeing toward the parking lot. Hasan said it was an effort to stop them from going to Afghanistan and killing his fellow Muslims. He is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back by law enforcement, and he now uses a wheelchair.
A military jury convicted Hasan of all 42 counts brought against him in 2013 and sentenced him to death. He acknowledged during his court-martial that he was the shooter and said he had "switched sides." The Army said Hasan's appellate process was completed after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request for review in March 2025.
Trump approved the execution by firing squad on October 2, giving the Army authority to set the date. That came days after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute Christa Pike brought fresh scrutiny on how states carry out the death penalty, particularly when using lethal injection.
Hegseth said the military hasn’t executed a service member by firing squad since World War II. The last military execution took place on April 13, 1961 when Army Private John Bennett was executed by hanging.
Army Rules Limit Who Can Witness Executions
Army Regulation 190-55 governs who may witness military executions, and it does not provide for unrestricted public attendance.
John Galligan, a retired colonel and former military judge who has represented Hasan in civil matters, said the regulation limits who can be present.
The regulation lists authorized witnesses, including designated military personnel, members of the execution team, the condemned prisoner's attorney, a chaplain, representatives of the prisoner's family and at least two media representatives selected by Army public affairs officials.
“Specifically, it directs who is able to be present and that does not include the general public—even the media is restricted,” Galligan told Newsweek in an email. “No surprise that such an ill-informed statement may have been made.”
The Army has not publicly detailed how the firing squad will be conducted at Fort Hood. The Associated Press reported that while Army Regulation 190-55 governs military executions, it does not provide detailed instructions for carrying out a firing-squad execution.
The Army said Hasan's execution would be conducted in accordance with the regulation.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Becca Flood and Paul Donnelley.