In 2009, Nidal Hasan, then an Army major, killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood, Texas. A military jury sentenced him to death in 2013. President Donald Trump approved the sentence on Oct. 2. The Army scheduled the firing-squad execution at Fort Hood for 1 p.m. CT on Thursday, Dec. 3. In an interview aired Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be public. That evening, a Pentagon official confirmed it "will be livestreamed." The Pentagon hasn't said which platform will carry it. The U.S. military hasn't executed anyone since 1961. If it goes ahead, death penalty experts told Reuters, it would be the first known livestream of a lawful execution. Rachel VanLandingham, a retired Air Force lawyer, told Politico that appeals could delay it for "years."

1. Supporters Say People Should See Justice Done

Hegseth says the public needs to see that terrorism has consequences.

Defense officials say they want the public to watch. "We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," Hegseth said. He said Hasan will die at 1 p.m., "which is when he did it." Hegseth later shared a CBS News report on the livestream on X and added one word: "Correct."

At least one Republican lawmaker says he'll watch. "Public execution is what this terrorist deserves. We will be watching," Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee posted Friday morning.

2. But Some Death-Penalty Backers Say Don't Stream It

They want Hasan executed. They don't want the general public watching it online.

Some Republicans who back the death sentence oppose the stream. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, posted Thursday night that Hasan "should face the death penalty," but that streaming it is "beyond disgusting." He wrote that public executions "are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do." Rep. Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican, wrote that "live-streaming executions is what jihadists do." Alyssa Farah Griffin, a co-host of The View and a former Trump White House communications director, said she supports the death penalty but called a livestream "toxic for society."

One survivor doesn't want the general public watching. Alonzo Lunsford, a former Army sergeant who was shot seven times in the attack, told BBC Radio 4 he backs the firing squad and plans to attend. He said survivors and families "should be able to look at it uncensored." About the general public, he said: "for me personally, I don't agree with that, but it's not about my personal belief."

3. Critics Say It Hands Terrorists a Recruiting Video

Former security officials and a conservative host say groups like ISIS would use the footage.

They warn the video would become propaganda. Joe Kent, a former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, posted that the stream "gives the terrorists free propaganda that they will use to radicalize & recruit." Retired Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, a former Fort Hood commander who approved Hasan's death sentence, wrote that streaming it adopts Al Qaeda's and ISIS's "barbaric practice of video recording the executions of their prisoners." Erick Erickson, a conservative radio host who supports the death penalty, wrote that it gives Hasan "the platform for martyrdom he wants."

4. Others Say Any Public Execution Is Wrong

The head of the U.S. Catholic bishops, the UN and Democrats say the state should never make an execution a public event.

These critics say a public execution is wrong in itself. Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the plan "a barbaric promotion of a culture of death" and said it "must be reconsidered." The UN human rights office told AFP that streaming an execution "would breach the absolute prohibition of torture." Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said on CNN that "public execution is medieval." Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. should "take the rule of law seriously, not turn it into a spectacle."

They point out who still does this. Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told Newsweek that public executions usually happen in authoritarian countries "to instill fear in the population." Amnesty International says recent public executions have mostly taken place in Iran and Taliban-run Afghanistan.

5. Still, Some Say Let the Public See It

A legal scholar says a stream would bring rare transparency. A death-penalty opponent says it would expose the people in charge.

Some say people should see what the state does. Deborah Denno, a Fordham law professor who studies execution methods, told the BBC a livestream would "force a level of transparency that we have probably never seen before in this country." Mark Wingfield, executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global, opposes the death penalty. He wrote that he's "glad" Hegseth wants to stream it, because "the whole world needs to comprehend what monsters he and his boss, Donald Trump, are."

Where This Lands

Hegseth says Americans need to see that terrorism has consequences, and Ogles says he'll watch. Tillis and other death-penalty backers want Hasan executed but not streamed. A former counterterrorism chief says terrorists will use the video to recruit, and a former Fort Hood commander says it copies ISIS. The head of the U.S. Catholic bishops, the UN and Democrats say no execution should be a public event. A legal scholar and a death-penalty opponent say a stream would force the public to look. The Pentagon says details on the stream will follow.

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