US to livestream Fort Hood shooter’s execution

The United States plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009. The execution is scheduled for December 3 and would mark an unprecedented step in the history of executions in the country.

The Pentagon confirmed that the execution would be broadcast live. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also confirmed the plan in a post on social media platform X. Further details about the broadcast are expected to be announced later.

Hasan, now 56, was sentenced to death by a military jury in August 2013. He was convicted of 45 counts involving premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder following the shooting at Fort Hood.

The attack took place at a medical facility on the military base. Hasan opened fire with a handgun, killing 13 people and injuring others. He was shot by police during his arrest and was left partially paralysed. He has since used a wheelchair.

The execution is planned to take place at Fort Hood, the same military installation where the shooting occurred. Hegseth said the decision to hold the execution at the base on a Thursday afternoon was deliberate, as it would correspond closely with the timing of the 2009 attack.

According to the Pentagon, President Donald Trump approved the firing squad execution on the recommendation of Hegseth. Under US military law, presidential approval is required before a military execution can proceed.

If carried out as planned, Hasan would become the first person executed by a US military firing squad since 1945. The proposed livestream would also mark an unprecedented development, as executions have not previously been televised or livestreamed in the United States.

The plan has raised questions among legal experts and opponents of the death penalty. Some have questioned the purpose of broadcasting an execution to the public. Military law expert Eugene Fidell described the proposal as highly unusual and said its legality could become the subject of a court challenge.

Jonathan Lurie, a historian specialising in military justice, also questioned the need to make the execution public. Legal experts have noted that Hasan could seek to challenge the broadcast in federal court.

The announcement comes amid renewed debate over capital punishment in the United States. The country has faced scrutiny over execution methods, particularly lethal injections, which have sometimes encountered serious problems.

The debate intensified after a recent attempted lethal injection in Tennessee involving death-row inmate Christa Pike went wrong. According to her lawyers, she survived the procedure and was taken to hospital, where she remained seriously ill.

The US government has also expanded the execution methods permitted for certain federal crimes.