Pentagon: Fort Hood shooter's firing squad execution to be livestreamed

The US Defense Department (the Pentagon) said on Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, will be livestreamed. In 2009, Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 others at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. The execution is set for Dec. 3 and would be the first by firing squad of a US service member since World War II.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice News on Wednesday, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, that the execution would be public and that people would be able to watch it. Asked whether Hasan had made final requests or contacted the Trump administration, Hegseth replied: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3rd.” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Monday that President Donald Trump had approved the execution. Pentagon officials said Thursday that more details would follow, while the White House referred questions on the livestream to the Pentagon.

Possible delay

Experts in military law say Hasan could resist and file a habeas petition in civilian court, which might significantly delay the execution. Eugene R. Fidell, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School specialising in military law, said the process might outlast the current administration.

The 2009 attack

Hasan, an Army major, walked into a medical building where soldiers waited in long lines for immunizations and medical clearance before deployment. Shouting “Allahu akbar”, he opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun. The trial revealed that he had planned the attack for weeks, including videotaping a sales clerk showing him how to change the pistol’s magazine. Soldiers testified that his rapid reloading made it nearly impossible to stop the shooting. Investigators found 146 shell casings inside the building and dozens more outside, where he shot at soldiers fleeing toward the parking lot.

Hasan said he wanted to stop soldiers from going to Afghanistan to kill fellow Muslims. A military judge barred him from presenting this as a defense, and he made almost no effort to defend himself at trial.

Hegseth said the military has not executed a service member by firing squad since World War II. The last military execution, on April 13, 1961, was the hanging of Army Pvt. John Bennett.