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Defense Department official says Nidal Hasan's execution will be livestreamed
A Defense Department official said Nidal Hasan's execution would be livestreamed. Hasan killed 13 unarmed U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.
A Defense Department official said the execution of Nidal Hasan would be livestreamed. Hasan shot dead 13 unarmed U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009; the official's statement concerns public viewing of his execution.
The execution is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood in Texas. If carried out as scheduled, it would be the first military execution by firing squad since the end of World War II.
Military law requires approval from the U.S. president for a military execution. It also requires appellate review, in which a higher court examines the decision, and a final judgment on its legality before the execution can proceed.
John Mills, a lawyer who works with people sentenced to death, described the decision to livestream the execution as unprecedented in the modern era and said it rests on uncertain legal ground.
Mills said Hasan's appellate process is unfinished and that he is likely to seek federal court review of his conviction and sentence. Mills said that review would likely put the execution on hold.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy condemned the proposed livestream, calling it disgusting and comparing it with executions carried out by the Islamic State group.
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Society ·
Trump orders firing squad for Fort Hood killer, Pentagon says
United States President Donald Trump has ordered a firing squad for the execution of a former army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, a Pentagon spokesman said. The order concerns the method of execution.
Hasan received a death sentence in August 2013 after a military jury convicted him of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder. The case concerned a handgun attack inside a medical facility at the Texas military base.
The attack killed 12 unarmed active-duty soldiers and a retired serviceman. Another 32 people were wounded.
The Army secretary will determine the time and place of the execution, the spokesman said.
Military executions in the United States require presidential approval under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They are extremely rare: if this order is carried out, it would be the first execution of a U.S. military member since 1961.
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Politics ·
United Nations condemns plan to livestream Nidal Hasan's execution
The United Nations has condemned a U.S. plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the convicted military base shooter, calling the proposal abhorrent. Its condemnation concerns making the execution publicly viewable.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a video posted by official Pentagon accounts that Hasan's execution by firing squad would be livestreamed. The statement announced a planned broadcast of the execution.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said livestreaming an execution would amount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture. That is the office's assessment of the proposed broadcast.
Hasan killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 while working as a U.S. Army psychiatrist.
His execution is scheduled for December 3. If carried out, it would be the first execution by firing squad conducted by the U.S. military since World War II.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis also criticized public executions on social media, saying they are something oppressive dictatorships do.
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Politics ·
Vance doubts planned livestream of Hasan's execution, says he would not watch
Vice President JD Vance cast doubt Friday on whether the Pentagon would livestream the December execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. Speaking to reporters in Hebron, Kentucky, he said he would not watch the execution if it were broadcast.
Asked about plans the Pentagon had confirmed Thursday, the Republican vice president said he did not know whether the broadcast would actually happen. He also urged people not to forget Hasan's crimes amid the controversy over the execution plans.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009.
Earlier Friday morning, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the government's decision to livestream Hasan's execution.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley called for the decision to be reconsidered. In a statement, he said Hasan's actions could not be condoned but condemned the proposed public livestream as promoting a culture of death.
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