President Donald Trump says Nidal Hasan will face execution by firing squad as scheduled, but the public will not be allowed to watch after the proposed livestream triggered bipartisan criticism over security, extremism and the consequences of broadcasting state executions.
Trump has reversed plans to livestream the scheduled execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, following mounting criticism from lawmakers and other public figures who warned that broadcasting the death could undermine national values and provide propaganda material for extremists.
Trump announced the decision Thursday in a post on Truth Social, confirming that Hasan’s execution would proceed as planned but would not be televised or streamed for public viewing.
“I think 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,” Trump wrote. He added that many people would prefer not to watch the execution through a livestream or another visual platform.
The president maintained that Hasan would die by firing squad as scheduled, while confirming that the immediate families of the victims would have the opportunity to witness the execution in person if they wished.
“They deserve to witness JUSTICE!” Trump said.
Livestream reversal follows bipartisan backlash
The decision marks a shift in the administration’s approach to the proposed public broadcast, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously defended as a way to demonstrate the consequences of terrorism.
Hegseth disclosed the plan during an interview with political activist Jack Posobiec, arguing that the public should be able to witness the execution to understand the seriousness of such crimes.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public — because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said.
However, the proposal quickly attracted criticism across party lines, with opponents questioning whether broadcasting an execution would serve as an effective deterrent or instead create new security risks.
House Speaker Mike Johnson raised concerns that a recording of the execution could be exploited by terrorist groups to attract supporters and encourage further violence.
“The concern would be that you would create a video that would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists,” Johnson said.
Vice President JD Vance also indicated that he would not watch the execution, adding to the broader debate about whether public access to capital punishment would serve a legitimate public interest.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, subsequently confirmed that Hegseth and Trump had discussed the decision before the president’s announcement.
“The Secretary supports the President’s decision, and they are completely aligned,” Parnell said.
Nidal Hasan execution remains scheduled for December 3
Despite the cancellation of the livestream, the administration has not announced a change to the execution schedule.
Hasan, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 others in the November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, a U.S. Army installation in Texas.
According to the previously announced schedule, his execution is set for 1 p.m. on December 3 at the military installation. Hegseth said earlier this month that Hasan would be executed by firing squad.
The decision to proceed with the execution while restricting public viewing separates the administration’s position on punishment from the question of whether such an event should be broadcast to a mass audience.
It also leaves open a broader debate about the role of transparency, victims’ families and public accountability in military capital punishment.
Public executions remain rare in modern history
The abandoned livestream plan would have placed the United States among a small number of countries known to have carried out public executions in recent years.
According to Amnesty International, Afghanistan and Iran were the only countries reported to have conducted public executions in 2025.
The last widely documented public execution in the United States took place in 1936, when an estimated 20,000 people gathered to witness the hanging of Rainey Bethea in Kentucky.
Military executions have also been rare. The last execution by the U.S. military took place in 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged.
Hasan’s scheduled execution by firing squad would mark a significant moment in the history of the U.S. military death penalty, with the method reportedly not having been used by the military since 1945.
The controversy surrounding the proposed broadcast has therefore extended beyond Hasan’s case, raising questions about how the United States presents capital punishment to the public and whether broadcasting an execution can deter violence or inadvertently amplify extremist messaging.
Debate shifts from punishment to public broadcasting
Trump’s decision preserves the scheduled execution while ending the administration’s proposal to make the event available to a nationwide audience.
Supporters of public access had argued that showing the consequences of terrorism could reinforce the seriousness of violent crimes. Critics, however, warned that a widely distributed execution video could be repurposed as extremist propaganda and potentially undermine efforts to prevent radicalisation.
The decision leaves the immediate families of the victims with the option of attending in person, while preventing the execution from becoming a publicly streamed spectacle.
As the scheduled date approaches, the central question is no longer whether the execution will be broadcast, but how the government should balance punishment, victims’ interests, public transparency and the potential security consequences of showing an execution to millions of viewers.
