WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Trump said Nidal Malik Hasan’s Dec. 3 firing squad execution will proceed without a public livestream.
- Immediate families of the victims may view the execution in person if they choose.
- Vice President JD Vance, religious leaders and international observers had expressed doubts about the planned livestream.
- Hasan was convicted of fatally shooting 13 people and wounding dozens more at Fort Hood in 2009.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Dec. 3 execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will not be livestreamed, rejecting the Pentagon’s planned public broadcast. Immediate families of the victims will still be allowed to view the execution in person if they choose.
Trump’s statement kept the scheduled firing squad execution in place while removing the livestream that had generated objections. Recent polls also showed that a majority of Americans opposed livestreaming the event.
“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,” Trump wrote.
In that message, Trump acknowledged the argument that a public broadcast could serve as a deterrent. He also pointed to opposition from people who did not want to watch Hasan die by livestream or another visual device.
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed. That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose,” Trump wrote.
He added, “They deserve to witness JUSTICE!”
Trump’s decision preserved access for the immediate families while closing off the broader livestream. His statement described their possible attendance as a choice and tied that access directly to justice for the victims.
The president separated the scheduled execution from the means by which a broader audience would have been allowed to watch it. The firing squad and date remain, but the livestream does not.
The issue had prompted doubts before Trump’s Thursday announcement. Vice President JD Vance, described as one of Trump’s fellow Republicans, was among those who questioned the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the Dec. 3 execution.
Religious leaders and international observers had also expressed doubts about the planned livestream. Their individual arguments were not detailed, but their concerns were listed alongside those raised by Vance.
Public opinion also weighed against broadcasting the execution, according to recent polling cited in the report. Those polls showed a majority of Americans opposed livestreaming it, though no specific polling figures were provided.
The polling concerned whether Americans supported livestreaming the execution, not whether the scheduled execution would proceed. A majority opposed the proposed broadcast.
The execution itself remains scheduled for Dec. 3, and Trump’s statement says Hasan will die by firing squad. The decision concerns the livestream, while immediate family members retain the option to witness the execution in person.
Hasan is a former U.S. Army psychiatrist. A military trial found him guilty of fatally shooting 13 people and wounding dozens more at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
His conviction came through a military trial, and the fatal shooting count was 13. The number of wounded victims was described as dozens.
Trump’s announcement addressed how the execution may be viewed. It did not alter the scheduled date or method, but it sharply limited public access by eliminating the livestream.
Under the arrangement Trump described, the general public will not receive the planned stream. The immediate families of the victims were specifically identified as eligible to view the execution in person if they choose.
That distinction was central to Trump’s statement. He rejected a broadcast for all to see while maintaining that victims’ immediate families should have the opportunity to witness justice in person.
The announcement came after doubts raised by Vance, religious leaders and international observers, as well as polling showing majority opposition among Americans. Trump nevertheless left the execution on schedule and retained the firing squad as the stated method.
Immediate families now have the option to attend if they decide to do so. For the broader audience, the president’s answer on the proposed livestream is final: no public stream.
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