International Bureau.
US President Donald Trump has cancelled plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army officer convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood Army base in Texas. The decision reverses an announcement by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In a social-media post on Thursday, Trump called Hasan “a very bad and evil man” and said he thought “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, he added, “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event won’t be streamed,” Trump said, noting that the immediate families of the victims could choose to view the event in person.
Execution stays scheduled for December 3
Hasan is due to die by firing squad on December 3. The execution would be the US Army’s first in 65 years. The last time a soldier was executed by firing squad was in 1945, during the Second World War.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 in an attack on the Texas military base in November 2009. He was left paralysed from the waist down from injuries sustained in the attack.
Hegseth’s plan drew bipartisan backlash
Hegseth had drawn intense backlash last week when he said the execution would be broadcast live. After bipartisan criticism, Trump reversed the decision.
Trump spoke with Hegseth about the decision ahead of the announcement, according to Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell. “The Secretary supports the President’s decision, and they are completely aligned,” Parnell said.
Trump made the decision after talking to White House advisers and other allies in recent days, expressing concern about a bloody spectacle on live television. He told allies that he was not involved in the initial decision to livestream the execution, according to people familiar with the matter.
Vance, Speaker and families objected
Even some of Trump’s closest allies had publicly questioned the plan. Vice President JD Vance cast doubt last week on whether the livestream would happen and said that he would not watch it if it did.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told CBS News that there were concerns that footage of the execution would become a “recruiting tool for future terrorists.”
The victims’ families strongly opposed the livestream plan. Keely Cahill Vanacker, whose father Michael Cahill was killed in the shooting, said it would turn “tragedy into entertainment.”
“Extremism leads to extremism and violence only leads to violence. They don’t fix each other,” Vanacker said. “This is not defence. We are not defending ourselves by livestreaming an execution and revelling in death.”
Eighty per cent of Americans opposed the plans, according to a Washington Post/ABC poll.
Some US officials had also worried that livestreaming the death of a paralysed man would be a propaganda victory for adversaries.
What happens now
The execution will go ahead as scheduled on December 3 by firing squad, without cameras. The victims’ immediate families will be able to attend in person if they choose.
The episode has become one of the most debated decisions of Trump’s second term on the use of military justice — raising questions about deterrence, dignity and the limits of public punishment.
Disclaimer: This news has been prepared on the basis of available sources and verification. If there is any error in any fact, a correction will be published.
