President Donald Trump said the planned firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will not be livestreamed, reversing an earlier Pentagon plan to broadcast it.
Hasan is scheduled to die Dec. 3. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the execution will still happen by firing squad, but “this event will not be streamed.” Immediate family members of the 13 people killed in the 2009 attack may attend in person if they choose, he said.
What changed
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: Said Wednesday Americans would be able to watch the execution. Pentagon officials later confirmed a livestream plan.
- President Trump: Said streaming might deter terrorists, but “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die” on a stream or other screen.
- Public pushback: Fox News, the New York Post, the Washington Times, the Daily Caller and the Washington Examiner all reported the reversal after bipartisan and military criticism of a public broadcast.
The case
Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009. He shouted “Allahu akbar” before opening fire inside a medical processing building where soldiers were preparing for deployment. Responders shot him during the attack; he was left paralyzed from the waist down.
At his 2013 court-martial he represented himself, acknowledged the shooting and received a death sentence. The execution would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961. Hasan can still seek delay through a habeas petition in civilian court.
Fort Hood was later renamed Fort Cavazos.
Sources
- Fox News: Trump says Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan’s execution won’t be livestreamed, Oct. 15, 2026.
- New York Post / Washington Times / Daily Caller / Washington Examiner: Same-day reports confirming Trump’s Truth Social statement and the earlier Pentagon livestream plan.
File photo: U.S. Army photo by Michael Heckman, III Corps PAO, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped. Fort Hood was later renamed Fort Cavazos.
