Pentagon's plan to livestream Fort Hood shooter's execution sparks intense backlash

Washington — The revelation that the Pentagon plans to livestream the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the ex-Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, has sparked intense pushback, with one Republican senator calling it "disgusting" and critics warning it could inspire more acts of terrorism.

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed CBS News' reporting that the Dec. 3 execution will be livestreamed. Hegseth told Real America's Voice the execution would be public "because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things." Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that Hegseth recommended, and President Trump approved, a plan to use an Army firing squad. 

"Death penalty through firing squad, and he deserves it," Mr. Trump said during an unrelated White House event on Friday. 

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who is retiring, called the decision "beyond disgusting." Tillis voted to confirm Hegseth, but is now expressing his regret in doing so. 

"Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting," Tillis wrote on X. "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America."

Republican Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia wrote on X, "I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that."

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said publicly executing someone is "medieval." 

"That's disgusting. What, is he mimicking ISIS executions?" Murphy said on CNN. "I mean, I understand that in this country we have the death penalty, but public executions is medieval. It's frankly one of the things that we abhor about terrorist groups. And the fact that the United States is doing it — I just learned this, that is just absolutely extraordinary, galling. No matter whether you support or oppose the death penalty, public hangings and executions? That's what America has become?" 

Ned Price, who was the State Department's spokesman during the Biden administration, said a public and livestreamed execution will create more "radicalized zealots." 

"You can take it from those of us who've spent years working on terrorism: the surest way to spawn more radicalized zealots is to glorify violence, embrace a cult of death, and create a martyr for the cause," Price wrote on X. "Or take it from AQ and ISIS, whose tactics offer the closest modern-day approximation of Hegseth's proposal. Either way, it's hard to conjure a more vivid example of his trademark performative bravado, which routinely damages America's image and, in this case, so ghoulishly leaves us more vulnerable."

Alonzo Lunsford, a former U.S. Army sergeant who was shot seven times during the Fort Hood shooting but survived, said he supports the gunman's execution by firing squad. But Lunsford said this execution is "not something you should view for entertainment purposes."

"To show the whole thing without it being censored for the general public, for me personally, I don't agree with that, but it's not about my personal belief," he told BBC Radio. 

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement Friday morning urging the Pentagon to reconsider. 

"In no way can [Hasan's] actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered. The word of God exhorts us: 'do not repay anyone evil for evil,'" the archbishop said, citing Romans 12:17. "The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people."

Conservative talk show host Erick Erickson, who supports the death penalty, also said a public, livestreamed execution of Hasan will give him the "platform for martyrdom he wants."

"Hasan is a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair," Erickson wrote. "The public imagery of a firing squad killing a man sitting in a chair because he cannot stand is going to undermine support for the death penalty. A society that increasingly finds ways to sympathize with the villains will do so here. This also gives Nidal Hasan the platform for martyrdom he wants. They'll be passing out the livestream video in the Middle East to inspire more terrorists to shoot up Americans to celebrate the glory of the martyrdom of Nidal Hasan."

Geoffrey Corn, a Texas Tech University law professor who served in the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps, told CBS News that the plan to livestream the execution "raises significant moral questions, above and beyond the questions related to the death penalty generally."

"There's a certain protocol that is normally followed with executions limiting the gallery of observers, which usually includes people close to the victims and certain members of the media," he said. 

Corn said "turning the execution of such a penalty into some type of public spectacle echoes of the past we seem to have put behind us."

Despite Lunsford's concerns about the livestream, the former U.S. Army sergeant said he'll be there for the execution. 

"I'm going to be there [to watch in person] and before they pull the trigger, I want him to look at me in my eyes and I look at him in his eyes and I want him to know: 'Dude, you failed, I'm still here,'" he told the BBC. 

The last public execution in the U.S. appeared to take place 90 years ago in 1936. That's when Rainey Bethea was hanged for rape in Kentucky. The execution reportedly drew a crowd of about 20,000.

Hegseth's announcement comes amid efforts from Democrats and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie to impeach him. A vote on his impeachment was delayed by House Speaker Mike Johnson's decision to cancel votes a day early ahead of the midterms.