Trump, after bipartisan backlash, says Pentagon won't livestream
execution of Fort Hood shooter
[October 16, 2026]
By SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Pentagon
will no longer livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood
shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, after the announcement faced bipartisan
criticism and Vice President JD Vance said he wouldn’t watch it.
Trump said on social media that publicly airing the execution “might
have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals
with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan."
But, he continued, “many very good and well meaning people would rather
not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual
device.”
The Pentagon has said Hasan’s execution is scheduled for Dec. 3. Trump
said the execution can be viewed in person by immediate families of the
victims, “if they so choose.”
The announcement earlier this month from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
that Hasan’s execution would be public — and subsequent confirmation
from the Pentagon that it would be livestreamed — prompted significant
blowback from both Republicans and Democrats, with many pointing out
that the images could be used to fuel radicalization.
Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said Trump and Hegseth
discussed the decision to drop the livestream plans before the
president's announcement on social media.
“The Secretary supports the President’s decision, and they are
completely aligned,” Parnell said.
Catholic bishop called the plan ‘barbaric’
When asked how the public execution comported with his Christian faith
earlier this month, Vance said, “I don’t know that that’s actually going
to happen.”
“So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I
hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a
lot of innocent people,” Vance said, adding, “Now, that said, I mean,
look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”
Vance is Catholic, and the church has long opposed capital punishment.
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had condemned the
Trump administration’s decision to livestream Hasan’s execution, with
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley saying the move was a “barbaric promotion of
a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”
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President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Majestic Valley
Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Kalispell, Mont. (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon)
Other top Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.,
voiced similar sentiments.
For his part, the president has defended his decision to approve the
use of a firing squad, but had for days distanced himself from
Hegseth's announcement that it would be public.
"Well, they’re making a determination about that,” Trump said Friday
when asked about the livestream. As for Hasan and the method of
execution, Trump said then: “He will be killed. He will be, through
firing squad. I really don’t care how he goes, as long as he goes.
And I think the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for
him.”
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, walked into
a medical building on Nov. 5, 2009, where soldiers were waiting in
long lines to receive immunizations and medical clearance for
deployment. He shouted “Allahu akbar” — Arabic for “God is great!” —
and opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun. He also shot at the
backs of soldiers fleeing toward the parking lot.
Hasan said it was an effort to stop them from going to Afghanistan
and killing his fellow Muslims. A military judge barred him from
presenting that as a defense during his 2013 trial. Hasan was left
paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back by law
enforcement and now uses a wheelchair.
Hasan could seek a lengthy delay of his execution, though given his
behavior at trial, he may not want to.
The U.S. military hasn’t executed a service member by firing squad
since World War II. The last military execution took place on April
13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging.
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Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this
report.
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