The Pentagon will live stream the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people in a shooting at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009. The execution is scheduled for December 3 at the military facility.
The decision was announced after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be public. "We'll make sure people can watch it, it'll be public," Hegseth said in an interview with a conservative media outlet.
Pentagon officials later clarified that it would be a live broadcast. It has not yet been announced which platform the signal will be available on or what the viewing conditions will be. Additional details are expected to be announced.
Execution approved by Donald Trump
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that President Donald Trump had approved Hassan's execution. The death sentence is related to the attack at “Fort Hood“, in which, in addition to the 13 victims, 32 others were injured.
Hassan is a former military psychiatrist in the US Army. Asked if he had made any final requests or contacted the Trump administration, Hegseth replied: "I don't care. We'll see him on December 3rd."
First Execution of a Soldier in Decades
The upcoming execution will be the first execution by firing squad of a soldier in the United States since World War II, according to the Associated Press. Hegseth noted that the U.S. military has not executed a soldier by firing squad since that period.
The last military execution in the United States was on April 13, 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged. Hassan's execution will take place at the same military base where he opened fire in 2009.
Sources: bta.bg, apnews.com, cbsnews.com