U.S. military to livestream firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter

The execution by firing squad of convicted military base shooter Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed, a Pentagon official said Thursday, after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said it would be carried out in “public.”

Hasan, a U.S. Army psychiatrist, shot dead 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. His execution will be the first by the U.S. military since 1961, and the first it has carried out by firing squad since the Second World War.

“It will be livestreamed. Details will follow,” the Pentagon official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

Hegseth had said in a video posted on X by official Pentagon accounts earlier Thursday that Hasan is “going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.”

“People need to understand that…there’s serious consequence for these types of things,” Hegseth told right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec while aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.

Hegseth noted that it would be the military’s first firing squad execution since the Second World War — a reference to the case of Eddie Slovik, who was put to death for desertion in 1945.

“I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was win, which was understand when the enemy attacks you, you need to stand your ground,” Hegseth said.

In a separate clip, Posobiec asked the Pentagon chief if Hasan had made any final request.

“Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3,” Hegseth said — the day Hasan is slated to die.

The last U.S. military execution was carried out in 1961, when John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder.

According to rights group Amnesty International, at least 17 public executions are known to have been carried out in 2025 — six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.