Washington: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, “will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed”.
That reverses a Pentagon plan to livestream the first US military execution in more than 65 years.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had weighed broadcasting the execution as a deterrent. “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, but many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device,” he wrote.
He said the victims’ families could attend. “That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose. They deserve to witness JUSTICE!” Trump wrote.
Trump also blamed the Obama administration’s FBI for missing warning signs. He said the FBI had “intercepted electronic communications between Hasan and the radical Yemeni-American cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki”, and that “investigators concluded that Hasan’s emails were not a threat”. He called that assessment “a key intelligence failure”.
Trump described Hasan as “a former US Army Major turned traitor” who “killed 13 people, including a pregnant soldier, who died, along with her unborn son, and injured, very seriously, 32 more innocent people”.
The plan to stream the execution drew criticism from both parties. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had said last week that Hasan is “going to get a firing squad of soldiers, and we’ll make sure that people can watch it,” and the Pentagon later confirmed it would be livestreamed. Some critics said a broadcast would feed Hasan’s stated wish for martyrdom.
A day after Hegseth’s announcement, Vice President JD Vance said of the livestream, “I don’t know that’s going to happen.” House Speaker Mike Johnson told CBS News that a video could be used by future terrorists as a recruiting tool, adding, “I wouldn’t be watching it if it was aired.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House over the weekend, Trump had said: “There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it. ‘Cause you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did.”
According to the Army, Trump approved the death sentence on Oct. 2, after a full appeals process upheld the conviction and sentence. On Oct. 6, Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle ordered the execution by firing squad to take place at Fort Hood, Texas, at 1 pm CST on Dec. 3.
The President has sole authority to approve a death sentence for a military prisoner. Under Army regulations, the execution date must fall 60 to 150 days after the President’s approval.
A military jury found Hasan guilty of all 42 counts on Aug. 23, 2013, and sentenced him to death five days later. The US Supreme Court declined to review his court-martial conviction on March 31, 2025.
The US military last executed in 1961, when it hanged Army Pvt John Bennett. It last used a firing squad in 1945 for Pvt Eddie Slovik, who was convicted of desertion during World War II. Hasan is held on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Hasan opened fire at a soldier readiness centre at Fort Hood on Nov 5, 2009.
(IANS)
