Trump cancels live broadcast of the execution of Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people in the United States
Amman2 min read
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US President Donald Trump has decided to cancel the planned live broadcast of the execution of the former US Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood base, saying on Thursday that he had overruled the Secretary of Defense, who had intended to turn the operation into a public spectacle.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had announced earlier this month that Nidal Hasan would be executed by firing squad on December 3 at Fort Hood in Texas, where Hasan carried out the attack in 2009. Hegseth surprised many by saying that the execution would be broadcast live. No other country is known to broadcast judicial executions via television or live stream.
Trump wrote in a social media post, "I believe that broadcasting the execution for all to see could have been a powerful deterrent to the world (...), but many good people with good intentions prefer not to watch his death, whether via live broadcast or any other visual medium." He added, "He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be broadcast."
Relatives of Hasan's victims will be able to attend the execution in person if they choose to do so, in accordance with standard US execution procedures.
Hasan, a former psychiatrist in the US Army, was convicted in a military trial of shooting and killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
Hegseth had previously said that broadcasting the execution was necessary to ensure people realize that "there are severe consequences for these types of things."
A spokesperson for the Department of Defense has not yet responded to a request for comment.
