The United States Pentagon says it will livestream the planned firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.
A Pentagon official confirmed the decision to AFP on Thursday, following remarks by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that the execution would be conducted publicly.
Hasan is scheduled to be executed on December 3, in what would be the first execution by the U.S. military since 1961 and its first firing squad execution since the Second World War.
Speaking in an interview with right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, Hegseth said the execution would involve a firing squad of soldiers and that arrangements would be made for the public to watch. He argued that the case should demonstrate the serious consequences of such attacks. When asked whether Hasan had made a final request, Hegseth said he was unconcerned, adding that the execution was scheduled for December 3.
The last execution carried out by the U.S. military was that of John Bennett, who was hanged in 1961 for rape and attempted murder. The last known military firing squad execution took place in 1945, when Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion during the Second World War.
Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 30 others in the November 2009 attack at Fort Hood, with most of the victims being military personnel. He was shot and partially paralysed by a civilian police officer who responded to the incident.
A military jury sentenced him to death in 2013 after he represented himself at trial, called no witnesses and made no attempt to deny the charges. His court-appointed defence lawyers had expressed concern that he was seeking the death penalty.
Evidence presented during the trial indicated that Hasan opposed the U.S. military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and had communicated online with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric linked to Al-Qaeda who was later killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen. The Pentagon announced earlier this week that President Donald Trump had approved Hasan’s execution.
Beyond the United States, public executions remain a major human rights concern. Amnesty International reported that at least 17 public executions were known to have taken place in 2025, including six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.
Meanwhile, the Death Penalty Information Center says the U.S. military has executed 135 service members since 1916.
Although mass shootings are common in the United States, attacks on military installations occur less frequently. In 2025, a soldier opened fire on fellow troops at a military base in Georgia, wounding five before being subdued.
In 2019, a U.S. sailor killed two people and wounded another at a base in Hawaii, while a Saudi military student killed three people at a military facility in Florida.
In 2015, a Kuwaiti-born U.S. citizen killed four Marines and a sailor in attacks on two military installations in Tennessee, which the FBI said were inspired by a foreign terrorist group.
