Killer’s Death to Be Livestreamed? A Shocking First

The US government plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas. The execution is scheduled for December 3, 2026, at Fort Hood. The Pentagon confirmed that it will be broadcast live. The announcement has sparked debate over the ethics of making a state execution available for public viewing.

Hasan opened fire at the military base on November 5, 2009, killing 13 people and injuring 32 others. He was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to death by a military jury. If carried out as scheduled, the execution would mark the first US military execution since 1961 and the first execution by a military firing squad since 1945.

The decision to livestream the execution has raised questions about the limits of transparency and whether broadcasting an execution risks turning it into a public spectacle. Hasan may still pursue legal action that could delay the execution.
Born in Virginia in 1970, he is an American whose parents were of Palestinian origin and immigrated from al-Bireh in the West Bank. He served as a US Army psychiatrist before the 2009 attack.