Pentagon plans to livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced this week that the Pentagon will livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. The execution, scheduled for early December at 1 p.m. at Fort Hood, will be carried out by firing squad and made available for public viewing—a decision that marks a striking departure from modern American practice and has already drawn scrutiny from legal experts.

Hasan was court-martialed in 2013 and convicted of murdering 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in the 2009 shooting. At trial, he represented himself and admitted responsibility for the attack, claiming he opened fire on fellow soldiers to protect Islamic insurgents from U.S. military operations. A military judge sentenced him to death. The case has moved through a lengthy appeals process; Hasan petitioned the Supreme Court in 2024 to review his conviction on grounds that a judge had cleared the courtroom during discussions of certain legal issues, violating his right to a public trial. The high court declined to hear the case last year.

Hegseth, speaking on the program Real America's Voice, framed the public execution as a matter of accountability. "He's gonna get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be," Hegseth said. "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." The plan was recommended by Hegseth and approved by President Trump, according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

The decision to livestream a capital execution is virtually without precedent in recent American history. The last public execution in the United States took place in 1936, when Rainey Bethea was hanged for rape in Kentucky before a crowd estimated at around 20,000 people. Since then, executions have been conducted with restricted access, typically limited to victims' family members, media representatives, and official witnesses. Geoffrey Corn, a Texas Tech University law professor who served as an Army Judge Advocate General, told CBS News the livestream plan "raises significant moral questions, above and beyond the questions related to the death penalty generally." He noted that the traditional protocol limiting observers reflects "an acknowledgment of the gravity of the penalty to be imposed" and warned that broadcasting the execution "echoes of the past we seem to have put behind us."

If carried out, Hasan's execution would mark the first military execution of an American service member since 1961, when a soldier was hanged for raping and attempting to murder an 11-year-old girl. It would also represent the military's first use of a firing squad since 1945, when Private Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion during World War II. Hegseth cited that historical gap in his public remarks. In the civilian sphere, firing squads have seen limited recent use; South Carolina carried out three executions by firing squad last year. The federal government typically relies on lethal injection for civilian death penalty cases, though the Justice Department has indicated openness to alternative methods including firing squads and electrocution.

Hasan's path to execution has been marked by unusual legal circumstances. During his trial, his own military attorneys expressed concern that he was deliberately pursuing a death sentence, a worry that shaped how the proceedings unfolded. His subsequent appeals, including the Supreme Court petition, centered on procedural fairness rather than challenging the conviction itself. CBS News reached out to Hasan's attorney for comment on the livestream announcement but had not received a response at the time of reporting.