The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has stated that the public will be able to watch the execution of former Army Captain Nidal Hasan by lethal injection. The department official confirmed to the BBC that the execution would be broadcast live online. This is a case that, according to available information, could become the first public execution in the United States in almost a century.
Hasan, in 2009, killed 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood. The shooting took place on 5 November 2009 in a crowded medical building where soldiers preparing for deployment were waiting for medical check-ups and vaccinations. Hasan, a psychiatrist in the US Army from Virginia, has pleaded guilty to the most deadly attack on a US military base not linked to combat operations. During the 2013 trial, he stated that he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and he apologised for 'all mistakes' in court.
The Pentagon announced earlier this week that it would execute Hasan, which would be the first military execution in over 60 years. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Monday that the defence secretary had proposed the execution, which was approved by President Donald Trump. The execution is scheduled for 3 December at Fort Hood in Texas, the US Army said on Tuesday. It will be the first military execution by lethal injection since the end of the Second World War.
Hegseth, in an interview with the conservative television network Real America's Voice, said that Hasan would be 'executed by a firing squad. And so it should be.' He added: 'We will make sure that people can watch it, that it is public.' He also said: 'People must understand that such acts have serious consequences.' When asked if Hasan had made any last requests or spoken to President Trump, Hegseth replied: 'I don't care. We will see on 3 December.' The BBC has requested a comment from the White House on whether Trump supports the public execution, which would be broadcast live.
John Mills, a lawyer representing prisoners on death row, said that the decision to broadcast live 'is unprecedented in modern times' and that it 'is on legally uncertain ground'. He pointed out that Hasan's appeal has not yet been completed and that he is likely to challenge the conviction and sentence in federal court, which would likely lead to a delay in the execution. Mills added that he would be surprised if the execution were to take place. 'The attempt to broadcast the execution live is nothing more than an attempt by the Trump administration to attract attention. It is unlikely that this will happen, and even less likely that it will bring any semblance of justice,' said Mills.
Eugene R. Fidell, a guest lecturer at Yale Law School, said that the decision was 'truly unfortunate'. 'Broadcasting a live execution is so medieval. As a society we have long since outgrown that, or so I thought until today,' said Fidell. He believes that if Hasan were to initiate legal proceedings, they could 'last for years' and 'be significantly longer than Trump's term in the White House'.
Under military law, the execution of the death penalty requires the consent of the US president, as well as a review of the sentence by a higher court and a final decision on its legality. Certain US states require some form of public oversight of executions. Many states require the presence of journalists, and the accused may invite people of their choice. Some states allow members of the public to volunteer as witnesses to the execution.
Deborah Denno, a professor of law at Fordham University who specialises in the study of execution methods in the US, said that 'there has never been a live execution broadcast on the internet before'. She believes that the live broadcast 'would impose a level of transparency that we have probably never seen in this country'. 'More than half of the population supports the death penalty, although support is declining,' said Denno. She also warned of the important questions raised by the live broadcast, such as whether the content would be age-restricted and whether such a broadcast would violate the terms of the platform on which it was being shown.
It is not yet clear on which platform the broadcast will be available. Most major social media platforms have rules that prohibit or restrict the live streaming of explicit content. Meta, YouTube, TikTok and X have rules that prohibit or restrict not only violent images and videos but also content that depicts death. Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and Threads, explicitly prohibits any live streaming of the execution. TikTok has a similar ban, with its rules stating: 'We do not allow highly explicit, violent or disturbing content, especially when it may cause emotional distress to viewers.' The rules of the platform X, where content moderation has been relaxed since it was taken over by Elon Musk, are cited in the source.
Last year, more than 2,700 executions were carried out in 17 countries, with only two countries carrying out public executions. According to Amnesty International, in 2025, 11 public executions were recorded in Iran, and six in Afghanistan.
