US plans to livestream military firing-squad execution, reviving public hangings after 90 years
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon will broadcast a firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, marking the first public execution in the United States since the 1930s.
In a surprise briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed that the military will carry out a firing-squad execution of former Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan and stream it live to the public. This would be the first openly televised execution in the United States since the 1936 public hanging of Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky, and a little-known 1937 Missouri execution. Hegseth argued that a public display would underscore the seriousness of such crimes.
Experts like Michael Radelet and Sonya Lea, whose grandparents witnessed the 1936 event, called the proposal horrifying and warned it could turn capital punishment into entertainment. Social-psychology professor Kurt Gray suggested the public may be desensitized, while researchers such as Garen Wintemute pointed to surveys showing declining appetite for violence. Catholic leaders and Vice-President JD Vance have labeled the livestream barbaric, and President Donald Trump said he approved the decision without commenting on viewing it himself.
Why it matters
A live-streamed execution could reshape public attitudes toward capital punishment and raise serious ethical questions.
How this story developed
- Oct 1 Tennessee suspends death-penalty executions through year-end after failed lethal injection
- Oct 5 Governor Lee suspended all Tennessee executions for the rest of the year.
- Oct 5 President Donald Trump has approved a firing squad execution for former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooter.
- Oct 6 Pentagon announced the execution will be carried out by firing squad.
- Oct 6 Pike reported to be awake and speaking while hospitalized.
- Oct 7 Execution date set for Dec 3.
- Oct 8 Reports indicate Pike now has pneumonia, a blood clot and total loss of arm function.
- Oct 8 A chancery court judge ordered preservation of all execution‑chamber evidence.
- Oct 8 Pentagon confirmed the execution will be livestreamed.
- Oct 9 British cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson called the US decision to livestream a firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan "disturbing" and reiterated Britain’s opposition to capital punishment.
- Oct 9 Survivor Alonzo Lunsford voiced support for the execution method while warning that a livestream could be misused.
- Oct 9 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed that the execution will be carried out by firing squad and streamed online.
- Oct 9 Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle confirmed the execution date and firing‑squad method.
- Oct 10 State leaders announced a review of execution methods following the failed lethal injection.
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