President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 15 that the execution of the Fort Hood mass shooter, Nidal Hasan, will not be live streamed, after the Pentagon announced that the event would be available to the public.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that Hasan, formerly a U.S. Army major, killed 13 people and injured 32 more in the 2009 mass shooting at the Texas military base.
“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,” the president said on Oct. 14.
He confirmed that Hasan will still be executed via firing squad, but he said that it won’t be streamed to the public.
“That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose. They deserve to witness JUSTICE!” the president wrote.
Earlier this month, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said Hasan’s execution would be carried out on Dec. 3 in public, and the Pentagon later confirmed that it would be live streamed.
Asked last week about the execution, Vice President JD Vance said he wouldn’t be watching it and said that he didn’t know whether it will happen.
“So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Vance said. “Now, that said, if it’s through live stream, I’m not going to be watching it.”
When asked about the execution of Hasan by firing squad, Trump said he approved the decision but appeared to be noncommittal about a live stream for the public.
“Well, they’re making a determination about that,” Trump said on Oct. 9 when asked about the live stream.
After a reporter asked him about the method of execution, he responded by saying that Hasan “will be killed … through firing squad.” He later said that he doesn’t really “care how he goes” and that “the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him.”
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, walked into a medical building in November 2009, where soldiers were waiting to receive immunizations and medical clearance for deployment.
He shouted “Allahu akbar” before he opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun. He also shot at the backs of soldiers fleeing toward the parking lot.
During a 2013 military court-martial proceeding, Hasan said he was the shooter and described himself as a jihadist.
A jury found him guilty on 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. The jury recommended that he be sentenced to death. Since then, he has remained on the military’s death row in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
The U.S. military hasn’t executed a service member by firing squad since World War II. The last military execution took place on April 13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging.
In an interview with Real America’s Voice this month, Hegseth told host Jack Posobiec that Hasan would be executed via firing squad.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” he said in the interview.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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