Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Thursday that Nidal Hasan’s December execution by firing squad at Fort Hood will be “public” — despite military regulations that limit the circle of people allowed to witness the event.
A Pentagon official later told ABC News the execution would be live-streamed.
“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 in an interview with the media outlet Human Events.
Uncredited/Bell County Sheriff’s Department, FILE
Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, is set to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3. His execution is set to be the first carried out by the U.S. military in more than 60 years.
Hasan’s civilian attorney, John Galligan, pushed back on Hegseth’s comments Thursday, telling ABC News that the regulations around Hasan’s execution are “very specific in terms of the amount of people who are authorized to be present.”
According to Army regulations for executions, witnesses can include families of the victims and at least two media outlets.
The execution’s time and place — 1 p.m. CT at Fort Hood — was intentional, Hegseth said. It was chosen to coincide with when Hasan began the 2009 attack, while Fort Hood was picked as the site because it was where the shooting took place.
Galligan told ABC News on Thursday that the decisions Hegseth has made to implement the execution are “political theater.”
ABC News’ Catherine Alaimo contributed to this report.
About the Author
