Pentagon to Livestream First Public US Execution in Almost a Century

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 that the execution of Nidal Hasan, who shot dead 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, would be livestreamed. It is believed the broadcast would be the first public execution in the United States in almost a century.

The decision is "unprecedented in the modern era" and rests on "uncertain legal terrain", according to John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death. Hegseth offered a blunt justification. "People need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," he said. The UN human rights office told AFP that livestreaming the execution would be "tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture". Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN the idea was "disgusting" and reminiscent of executions carried out by the Islamic State group.

The Pentagon announced earlier this week that 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. The execution is scheduled to take place at Fort Hood in Texas on 3 December and would be the first military execution by firing squad since the end of the Second World War.

Alonzo Lunsford, a former US Army sergeant who was shot seven times in the attack, told the BBC's Today programme that he supported execution by firing squad as a method "befitting" the crime. He does not believe everyone should be able to watch the livestream, concerned about the message it sends younger people, but says it is important that those affected by the shooting are 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 says he plans to attend the execution and wants Hasan to look him in the eyes before the trigger is pulled. "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 is "gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be". Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests or reached out to President Donald Trump, Hegseth replied: "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 supports a livestreamed public execution.

While there were more than 2,700 executions across 17 countries last year, only two countries 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.

In court Hasan apologised for "any mistakes". He said during his court martial in 2013 that he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. A military execution requires approval from the US president under military law, as well as appellate review and a final judgement on its legality. The appellate process for Hasan is not over, Mills said, and he is likely to seek review of his conviction and sentence in federal court, which would probably stay the execution. Mills said he would be surprised if the execution happened at all. "Seeking to make it livestreamed, a firing squad execution, is little more than attention-seeking by the Trump administration and is unlikely to occur, much less deliver any semblance of justice," he added.

Certain states require some form of public viewing of executions. Many require journalists to be present, and the person due to be executed can invite people. Others allow ordinary citizens to volunteer as witnesses. But "there hasn't ever been a livestreamed execution," says Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University who has studied US execution methods. A livestreamed execution would "force a level of transparency that we have probably never seen before in this country", she says. "More than half of the country wants the death penalty – even though that's on the decline – an argument could be made that 'if you want the death penalty, then we are going to show you how it's conducted in this country'."

Denno says there are important considerations for a livestream, such as whether it would be age-restricted. Only certain categories of people, such as journalists and relatives, are permitted to watch military executions under Army Regulation 190-55. People aged under 18 are excluded. The BBC has asked the Pentagon and US Army whether the rules restricting who can watch will be waived and what safeguards will be in place to stop young people from watching the stream. A Defence Department official told the BBC that more details on the livestreamed execution would follow.

The countries with the highest number of executions last year were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the US, in that order, Amnesty International data shows. Donald Trump overturned Joe Biden's moratorium on federal executions when he returned to the White House. According to Pew Research conducted in July, two thirds of Americans (66%) support executions for murder, a figure which has risen six points in the last five years.

The last military execution in the country took place in 1961, when a US Army private was hanged after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old Austrian girl. The execution was authorised by then-President Dwight D Eisenhower and took place despite the victim's family asking his successor, John F Kennedy, for clemency. The last military execution by firing squad took place in January 1945, when a young US Army deserter, Eddie Slovik, was shot during the final months of the Second World War.