The United States Department of Defense confirmed that the former Army psychiatrist responsible for the 2009 Fort Hood tragedy will be put to death by a firing squad on 3 December. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters the execution will be livestreamed allowing anyone with internet access to view the event as it unfolds. If carried out, it would be the first public execution in the country in almost a century and the first military execution by firing squad since the end of World War II.
On 5 November 2009, Nidal Hasan entered a medical processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, and opened fire on a crowd of soldiers and civilians, killing 13 unarmed servicemembers. During his 2013 court-martial, the psychiatrist expressed remorse, apologising for “any mistakes,” while also claiming he acted to protect Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The case has remained in the public eye for more than a decade, especially after former Sergeant Alonzo Lunsford, who survived seven gunshot wounds in the attack, publicly endorsed the death-penalty method, calling it “befitting” for Hasan’s crimes.
Decision to use a firing squad and make it public
Secretary Hegseth argued that the nation must see the “serious consequences” of attacks carried out by members of the armed forces, stating, “People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.” The Pentagon announced that the execution will be carried out at Fort Hood at 1 p.m. on 3 December, marking the first military execution in more than 60 years. A Defense Department spokesperson confirmed that President Donald Trump had signed off on the recommendation, finalising the chain of approvals required by military law.
In parallel, the Department disclosed that the execution will be broadcast live on the internet. The move has been described as “unprecedented in the modern era” by lawyer John Mills, who specialises in capital-case defense. Critics, including Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, called the proposal “disgusting” and likened it to the propaganda-style killings of the Islamic State. The United Nations’ human-rights office warned that a livestream would be “tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture.”
Legal, procedural and ethical hurdles
While the President’s approval satisfies one legal prerequisite, a military execution also requires a completed appellate review. Mills noted that Hasan’s appeals are still pending in federal court, meaning the sentence could be stayed pending a final judgment. He added that the attempt to broadcast the death “is little more than attention-seeking by the Trump administration and is unlikely to occur, much less deliver any semblance of justice.”
U.S. Army Regulation 190-55 limits who may witness a military execution to certain categories, such as journalists, next-of-kin and other authorised personnel; persons under 18 are expressly excluded. Law professor Deborah Denno of Fordham University highlighted that a livestream would force a level of transparency never before seen in the United States, but she warned that age-restriction mechanisms would be essential. The regulation does not automatically permit a public webcast, raising questions about whether the Pentagon will waive those rules.
International data from Amnesty International shows that the United States ranks among the top five nations for executions, trailing only China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Domestic opinion remains largely supportive: a July Pew Research survey found that 66 % of Americans back the death penalty for murder, a figure that has risen six points over the previous five years. The forthcoming execution, if aired, could become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over capital punishment, the role of the military justice system, and the United States’ compliance with global human-rights standards.
