The US military will livestream the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, a Pentagon official said on Thursday.
The announcement came after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Hasan’s execution would be carried out publicly, allowing people to watch the proceedings, reports AFP .
Hasan is scheduled to be executed on 3 December.
“It will be livestreamed. Details will follow,” the Pentagon official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
In a video posted on official Pentagon accounts on X, Hegseth said Hasan would face a firing squad composed of soldiers, adding that the public would be able to watch the execution.
“People need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth told right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The execution would mark the US military’s first since 1961 and its first by firing squad since World War II. The last military execution was that of John Bennett, who was hanged in 1961 for rape and attempted murder.
The previous US military execution by firing squad was carried out in 1945, when Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion during World War II.
Referring to the wartime execution, Hegseth praised what he described as the military’s determination to defeat its enemies and stand firm when attacked.
In a separate video clip, Posobiec asked Hegseth whether Hasan had made any final requests. “Don’t care. We’ll see him on 3 December,” the defence secretary replied.
Fort Hood attack
Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood, a military installation in Texas, in November 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others. Twelve of those killed and all 30 wounded were soldiers.
He was shot by a civilian police officer who responded to the attack, leaving him partially paralysed.
A military jury sentenced Hasan to death in 2013. During the trial, he represented himself, called no witnesses and gave no testimony. He did not attempt to deny the charges, while court-appointed defence attorneys raised concerns that he was seeking the death penalty.
The court was told that Hasan opposed US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had also communicated online with Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born radical cleric linked to Al-Qaeda who was later killed in a US drone strike in Yemen.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that President Donald Trump had approved Hasan’s execution for the Al-Qaeda-inspired attack.
Military death penalty
According to the Death Penalty Information Centre, the US military has executed 135 service members since 1916.
Public executions remain rare worldwide. Amnesty International reported that at least 17 public executions were known to have taken place in 2025, including six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.
Although mass shootings are relatively common in the United States, attacks at military installations are less frequent.
In 2025, a soldier opened fire at a military base in Georgia, wounding five fellow service members before being subdued and arrested.
In 2019, a US sailor killed two people and wounded another at a military base in Hawaii. That same year, a Saudi military student killed three people at a military facility in Florida.
In 2015, a Kuwaiti-born US citizen attacked two military installations in Tennessee, killing four Marines and a sailor. The FBI concluded that the attack was inspired by a foreign terrorist group.
