President Donald Trump has cancelled plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. Hasan will be executed by firing squad on December 3, 2026, but the event will not be broadcast.
Trump stated that "many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die," reversing his earlier position that the livestream would serve as a deterrent. He acknowledged the execution itself would still proceed as scheduled, and said families of the 13 victims could view it in person.
The Pentagon had announced last week that it would both execute Hasan and livestream the event, drawing swift international condemnation. The United Nations called the plans "abhorrent." Human rights groups joined the criticism. Amnesty International noted that only two countries carried out public executions last year, with Iran conducting 11 known public executions and Afghanistan six in 2025.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had defended the livestream plan, arguing that "people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things." But Trump appeared to hedge his initial approval on Friday, saying the Pentagon was "still making a determination" even as he claimed to "absolutely" support it. He also called Hasan "totally nuts."
John Galligan, a lawyer for Hasan, told the BBC that Trump's reversal "comes as no surprise," calling the original livestream decision "a dumb decision" that violated Army regulations. Galligan noted that Hasan is paralysed from the chest down, something he said Trump "allegedly didn't even know" when approving the plan. Vice-President JD Vance had also cast doubt on the execution plan and stated he would not watch it.
The shooting on November 5, 2009 represented the deadliest non-combat attack on an American military base. Hasan admitted in court to being the gunman and said during his 2013 court-martial that he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from US military action.
US military law requires presidential approval for executions and mandates appellate review before a sentence can proceed.