The public will be able to watch the execution of a former US Army major by firing squad, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.
A Defence Department official told the BBC the execution of Nidal Hasan, who fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, would be livestreamed.
It is believed it would be the first public execution in the US in almost a century. The decision to livestream it was “unprecedented in the modern era” and “on uncertain legal terrain”, said John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death.
“People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” said Hegseth.
The UN human rights office told AFP that livestreaming it would be “tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture”.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN that the idea was “disgusting” and reminiscent of executions carried out by the Islamic State group.
The Pentagon announced earlier this week it would execute Hasan in the first military execution in more than 60 years.
Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist from Virginia, admitted fatally shooting 13 unarmed soldiers in a crowded medical building at Fort Hood.
Alonzo Lunsford, a former US Army sergeant who was shot seven times in the attack, told the BBC’s Today programme that he supported the execution by firing squad, as a method “befitting” for what he did.
But he said he did not believe everyone should be able to watch the livestream over concerns about the message it might send to younger people, but added that it was important that those affected by the shooting were given the opportunity.
“As far as the families of the fallen and the families of the survivors, and the survivors themselves, yes, I think we should be able to look at it uncensored.”
Lunsford said he planned to attend the execution and before they pull the trigger he wants Hasan to look him in the eyes. “I want him to know he failed. I’m still here.”
Hegseth said in an interview with conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice that Hasan was “gonna get a firing squad of soldiers – as it should be”.
Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests or reached out to US President Donald Trump, Hegseth said: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3rd.”
A Pentagon spokesperson said on Monday that Trump had approved the defence secretary’s recommendation. The BBC has asked the White House whether Trump supported a livestreamed public execution.
While there were more than 2,700 executions across 17 countries last year, only two nations carried them out publicly.
Eleven public executions were known to have been carried out in Iran in 2025 and another six in Afghanistan, according to Amnesty International. (BBC)