Hegseth's planned livestreamed firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan (Dec. 3, 2026) Case On Oct. 7-8, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, set for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, would be "public"; the Pentagon then said it would be livestreamed. It would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961 and the first known broadcast of a lawful U.S. execution. The UN human rights office said livestreaming an execution would breach the absolute prohibition of torture, and criticism came from both parties; the plan's details and whether the stream will happen remain unsettled. What was announced (Oct. 2026) On Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, the Pentagon announced that President Trump had approved the execution by firing squad of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended that method; the Army secretary was to set the time and place. On Oct. 7, in an interview with the conservative outlet Real America's Voice aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Hegseth said Hasan's execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 and that "people are able to watch it, that it's public," adding that people "need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things." Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests, Hegseth replied: "Don't care. We'll see him on December 3rd." On Oct. 8-9 the Pentagon clarified that "public" meant the execution would be livestreamed, with more details to follow. CNN reported that the announcement caught many in the Army and Pentagon off guard, that Hegseth, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell decided "public" would mean livestreamed, and that officials have been scrambling to settle details, including how to obscure the identities of the soldiers on the firing squad. The Pentagon has not explained why a firing squad was chosen over lethal injection, the method specified in current military execution regulations. Why it would be unprecedented Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and was sentenced to death in 2013. If carried out, it would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961 and the first military firing squad execution since World War II. It would also be the first known broadcast of a lawful U.S. execution, and, by the account of death-penalty experts, would end a nearly century-long retreat from public executions; the 1936 hanging of Rainey Bethea in Kentucky is widely considered America's last public execution. A military law expert quoted by NPR said she was not aware of any regulation or historical precedent for livestreaming a U.S. military execution. Al Jazeera reported that, for the execution to be 'public,' Trump would have to approve a waiver, according to a lawmaker's comment. Reaction and backlash Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called the plan 'beyond disgusting' and said public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do, while Republican Rep. Andy Ogles called Hegseth's decision 'excellent.' Vice President JD Vance said he did not know whether the livestream would actually happen and that he would not watch it if it did. Reports conflict on Trump's position: Axios says Trump told reporters he approved the decision to livestream, while Al Jazeera says he 'absolutely' approved of the execution but had not made a determination on streaming it. Amnesty International USA said the announcement 'adds to the display of cruelty' seen in the recent botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee. Axios noted that tech companies now face the question of whether they would allow the Pentagon to stream the execution on their platforms. Background Trump approved the firing squad days after Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection led its governor to halt further executions this year and order an independent review. Trump resumed federal executions after an informal moratorium; the federal government executed 13 people between 2020 and early 2021. Hasan can still seek habeas corpus relief in civilian federal court, which could delay the execution for years. UN and international-law objections On Oct. 9 the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights told AFP: "The livestreaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture." The UN human rights office said it had made similar statements about public executions in Afghanistan and Iran, calling them a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; this earlier wording is the weaker 'cruel, inhuman or degrading' standard, while the statement on the Hasan plan invokes the absolute prohibition of torture. The UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment No. 36 on the right to life (adopted Oct. 30, 2018 and published Sept. 3, 2019) states in paragraph 40 that the Committee has already opined that public executions are contrary to article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which covers torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The same paragraph says that failing to respect article 7 inevitably renders an execution arbitrary and so also a violation of article 6, and that other painful and humiliating methods of execution are likewise unlawful under the Covenant. Perspectives Official position — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon Hegseth says the execution should be public because people need to understand there are serious consequences for such crimes, and the Pentagon has confirmed it will be livestreamed with details to follow. Asked about any final requests from Hasan, Hegseth said he did not care. The Pentagon has not publicly explained the choice of a firing squad over lethal injection. Critic — UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights The UN human rights office holds that livestreaming an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture, and says it has called public executions in Iran and Afghanistan cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Critic — Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and lawmakers across both parties Tillis says Hasan should face the death penalty but that making the execution public and streaming it is beyond disgusting, adding that public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. Democratic lawmakers called it a barbaric spectacle, and Vance said he would not watch. Defender — Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) Ogles says public execution is what this terrorist deserves and called Hegseth's decision excellent. Research notes ONGOING until the Dec. 3 date. Open leads: (1) whether Trump signs the waiver required for a "public" execution; (2) platform decisions on hosting the stream; (3) Hasan habeas/civil court filings and any stay; (4) how the identities of the firing squad soldiers are handled; (5) why a firing squad rather than lethal injection, the method in current military regulations; (6) any formal UN Special Rapporteur statements beyond the OHCHR comment to AFP; (7) the DOJ April 2026 decision to allow firing squads, electrocution and gas in federal executions; (8) link to the Christa Pike botched lethal injection in Tennessee; (9) how the U.S. stands under the ICCPR (check its reservations to article 7) given General Comment No. 36 para. 40. Notes on the UN material: the OHCHR statement is a spokesperson comment to AFP, not a Special Rapporteur finding. General Comment No. 36 is the Human Rights Committee's interpretation of the ICCPR; para. 40 says public executions are contrary to article 7 (torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), which makes the execution arbitrary under article 6. The earlier IBAHRI summary of this point (Scottish Legal News) said article 6; the primary text says article 7. Note Trump reportedly said he approved the decision to livestream (Axios), while Al Jazeera reports he said he had not decided on a livestream; VP Vance doubted it would happen, and Hasan can still seek habeas relief that could delay the execution. Sources [1] PBS NewsHour (AP): Pentagon says firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestreamed (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/pentagon-says-firing-squad-execution-of-fort-hood-shooter-will-be-livestreamed) · 2026-10-08 [2] Euronews: US military will livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter, 'torture' for UN (https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/09/us-military-will-livestream-the-firing-squad-execution-of-fort-hood-shooter) · 2026-10-09 [3] Al Jazeera: 'Barbaric': US lawmakers condemn plan to livestream Nidal Hasan's execution (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/9/barbaric-us-lawmakers-condemn-plan-to-livestream-nidal-hasans-execution) · 2026-10-09 [4] CNN: Hegseth wants America to watch a firing squad execution. It's drawing backlash (https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/09/politics/fort-hood-execution-hegseth-livestream) · 2026-10-09 [5] CNN: Army caught off guard by Hegseth's order to make firing squad execution public (https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/10/politics/pentagon-scramble-hegseth-public-execution) · 2026-10-10 [6] Axios: Hegseth's public execution plan meets the age of viral violence (https://www.axios.com/2026/10/10/hegseth-public-execution-nidal-hasan) · 2026-10-10 [7] NPR: The U.S. last held a public execution in the 1930s. The Pentagon wants to change that (https://www.npr.org/2026/10/09/nx-s1-5996529/firing-squad-livestream-execution-fort-hood-shooter) · 2026-10-09 [8] AP (via WLOX): Trump approves firing squad execution for Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan (https://www.wlox.com/2026/10/06/trump-approves-firing-squad-execution-fort-hood-shooter-nidal-hasan/) · 2026-10-06 [9] Washington Post: What to know about public executions, and why they stopped in the U.S. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/10/09/what-know-about-public-executions-why-they-stopped-us/) · 2026-10-09 [10] Yahoo News: Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 in Fort Hood shooting, to be publicly executed by firing squad on livestream (https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/nidal-malik-hasan-who-killed-13-in-fort-hood-shooting-to-be-publicly-executed-by-firing-squad-on-livestream-101428278.html) · 2026-10-09 [11] Tag24 (AFP): UN warns livestreamed execution amounts to torture as outrage grows (https://www.tag24.com/en/justice/un-warns-livestreamed-execution-amounts-to-torture-as-outrage-grows-3538922) · 2026-10-09 [12] Scottish Legal News (IBAHRI): Afghanistan: IBAHRI condemns public executions (https://scottishlegal.com/articles/afghanistan-ibahri-condemns-public-executions) [13] UN Human Rights Committee: General comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the ICCPR, right to life (CCPR/C/GC/36, 3 Sept. 2019) (https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3884724) · 2019-09-03 Connections Same actor — Hegseth's "No fatties, no trannies, no beardos" State of the Force speech and post Both center on Hegseth's Pentagon leadership; a quoted commentator ties the firing squad to the 'lethality culture' he promotes. Same actor — Hegseth's Pentagon undercounting/concealing US casualties in the Iran war Same Defense Secretary; Hegseth made the announcement aboard a carrier whose crew supported the Iran war.