US President Donald Trump has cancelled the planned livestream of the execution of the former US Army major who killed 13 people at Texas’ Fort Hood, saying yesterday that he had overruled his defence chief who had intended it to be a public spectacle.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had announced earlier this month that Nidal Hasan would be executed by a firing squad on December 3 at the Fort Hood military base, 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.
Trump and his advisers had been unaware of the livestream plan before Hegseth’s announcement in a media interview, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity.
“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 JD Vance, as well as religious leaders and international observers had expressed doubts about the Pentagon’s livestream plan.
Recent polls have also shown a majority of Americans opposed livestreaming 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 two lethal injections in a botched execution attempt by Tennessee last month that left her badly injured and requiring hospitalisation.
&uuid=(email))