Update: Execution of Fort Hood attacker will not be livestreamed, Trump denied the plan

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution of former US Army major Nidal Hasan is denied by Trump. On December 3, the execution is set to take place at Fort Hood in Texas.

News Source: https://www.reuters.com/

US President Donald Trump has denied the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood attacker former US Army major Nidal Hasan. Nidal Hasan who’s charged with killing of 13 people and wounding 31 in the attack that took place at Fort Hood on November 2009.

The US President’s decision came after a worldwide criticism of the public execution, he said on Truth Social “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.” Further he added “He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”

Though in a statement Pentagon said that is a mutually discussed decision between President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth. It stated “The Secretary supports the President's decision, and they are completely aligned.” It is the first significant public disagreement between Trump and Hegseth.

The US defense Secretary said earlier, “We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public. People need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things.” While the family of all the victims killed in the attack express relief that justice is finally served after a long 17 year wait. Human rights groups and supporters of the anti-death penalty have vehemently denounced the video, characterizing it as a "snuff film" attitude and an entry into barbarism. The U.S. government's adoption of public execution methods that have historically been employed and denounced in dictatorships like North Korea or Iran is criticized for being hypocritical.

Firing squads are becoming recognized as a less cruel option when many states have struggled to administer fatal injections because they cannot obtain medications or find doctors who are prepared to carry out executions. Vice President of the National Institute of Military Justice and a professor at Villanova Law, Brenner Fissell said “Firing squads can be a quicker, cleaner, more precise way to execute a prisoner,” he added. “I don’t think that’s what’s motivating this. There’s a perceived masculinity and military-ness to firing squads that is part of the aura Hegseth is trying to emphasize…the lethality culture.”

According to Hasan, it was an attempt to prevent them from killing his fellow Muslims in Afghanistan. During his 2013 trial, a military judge prohibited him from using that as a defense. After being shot in the back by police, Hasan became paralyzed from the waist down and is now confined to a wheelchair. Given his actions throughout the trial, Hasan may not want to request a protracted postponement of his execution. Hasan told jurors he was the shooter at the start of his section of the trial after firing his attorneys and represented himself. Over the next three weeks, he didn't say much more, leading his court-appointed standby attorneys to believe that Hasan's sole objective was to receive the death penalty.

FAQs:

Q: When and where will the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan take place?

A: On December 3, the execution is set to take place at Fort Hood in Texas.

Q: What is the method of execution of Nidal Malik Hasan?

A: Hasan will be executed by a firing squad made up of U.S. Army soldiers armed with rifles

Q: How rare is fire squad type of execution?

A: It is totally unheard of in modern history. This will be the first death by firing squad in the U.S. military since World War II (1945) and the first execution of any type in almost 65 years (since 1961).

Q:  Why President Trump denied the public watch the execution of Fort Hood attacker?

A: The US President’s decision came after a worldwide criticism of the public execution, he said on Truth Social “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.” Further he added “He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”

Q: Has an American execution ever been livestreamed before?

A: No. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), there is no legal precedent, rule, or record of an execution being broadcast live to the public in the United States. In the past, requests from the media to broadcast the death penalty have been vigorously denied by federal courts. The closest similarity occurred in 2001 when the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was only shown to the families of the deceased on a private, closed-circuit loop.