Nidal Hasan Execution: Pete Hegseth Says Firing Squad Sentence Will Be Livestreamed on December 3

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has confirmed that the scheduled execution of Nidal Hasan, a former Army doctor convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, will be open to the public and livestreamed on December 3. He stated that the execution is set for 1 p.m. local time at the military facility.

The news came after US President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s death sentence earlier this week. An official from the Defence Department also stated that the execution will take place in public.

If carried out as planned, this would be the first execution by the US military in more over six decades. Hegseth stated that the sentence will be carried out by a shooting squad of troops.

Nidal Hasan Execution: What Happened at Fort Hood in 2009?

Hasan opened fire on a medical processing center at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009. The gunshot killed at least 13 individuals and wounded many more.

In 2013, a military jury condemned him to death. He has stayed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since his conviction. After exhausting his appeals last year, the case came closer to execution, with Trump affirming the punishment based on Hegseth’s recommendation.

Investigators discovered that Hasan exchanged 18 emails with Anwar al-Awlaki in the months preceding the incident. Al-Awlaki, a militant cleric, was assassinated in a US drone attack.

During his court-martial, Hasan claimed that he acted to prevent American soldiers from going to Afghanistan to slaughter Muslims. He was preparing for his own deployment at the moment.

The scheduled execution has also rekindled interest in how the military first categorised the incident. The Pentagon categorised the event as workplace violence rather than a terrorist strike. This ruling impacted victims’ eligibility for Purple Hearts and other combat-related rewards.

Nidal Hasan Execution: Hegseth’s Remarks and the Firing Squad Plan

During a Thursday interview, Hegseth asked about former US President Barack Obama’s prior depiction of the Fort Hood incident. Hegseth stated Obama referred to it as “workplace violence”. However, there is no record of Obama uttering that phrase.

Following the incident, Obama called the shooting as a tragedy and talked of those who were unable to escape “the horror of war” during a Memorial Day event. He further stated that the individual responsible will face punishment.

The December 3 proposal would bring back an execution technique that the US military hasn’t employed in almost 60 years. November 1945 is when the final known US military firing squad execution occurred. In an attempt to expedite death sentence cases, the Trump administration has attempted to reinstate the procedure during its second term.

Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah are the five US states that allow firing squad executions. According to Amnesty International’s most recent annual study, which is referenced in the source, the practice is still in use in a number of nations.

Hegseth ignored the subject and said, “Don’t care,” when asked if Hasan had contacted Trump or made a last request. He will be with us on December 3.

The public will be permitted to see the execution, which is still slated for December 3 at Fort Hood, according to Hegseth. The announcement comes after Trump recently approved the death penalty after years of court processes following the 2009 shooting.