Pentagon Will Livestream the Fort Hood Shooter's Firing Squad Execution

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that the Army's firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed to the public, an unprecedented move that would make it the first public execution in the United States in more than 90 years.

A Pentagon official confirmed to the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal that the December 3 execution "will be livestreamed," adding that more details would follow. The confirmation landed hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Real America's Voice the execution would be public: "We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things."

Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests or tried to contact the administration, Hegseth didn't hesitate.

"Don't care. We'll see him on December 3."— Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, on Real America's Voice

The date, time, and place were announced Wednesday by acting Army Secretary Adam Telle: Thursday, December 3, 2026, at 1:00 PM Central, at Fort Hood — the same base where Hasan, then an Army major and psychiatrist, opened fire on unarmed soldiers preparing to deploy on November 5, 2009, killing 13 and wounding 32. A Thursday. Around 1 PM. The Pentagon is not being subtle about the symmetry, and Hegseth called the firing-squad decision "a no-brainer."

The chain of approval moved fast. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced Monday that Hegseth had recommended death by Army firing squad and President Trump approved it. Trump brought it up himself Wednesday night at a rally in San Antonio for Senate nominee Ken Paxton: "We also recently announced that we're going to deliver final justice to an evil killer, the Fort Hood shooter."

Hasan has been on military death row at Fort Leavenworth since his 2013 court-martial, where he was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. If carried out, his execution would be the first by the U.S. military since 1961, when Pvt. John Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth — and the first military firing squad since January 31, 1945, when Pvt. Eddie Slovik was shot in France for desertion during World War II.

Under existing Army regulation, executions can already be attended by select members of the public, including victims' families and media. But a livestream to the general public is something else entirely — no American execution of any kind has been public in more than nine decades.

At least one person has already claimed their seat. Shawn Lunsford, who was shot in the head during the 2009 attack, told Fox News he vows to watch — saying the families of the 13 who died will "never get a chance to cherish a Christmas, a Thanksgiving, an Easter" with their loved ones again.