Key takeaways:
- Vance said he doubted the planned livestream would happen and would not watch it if it did.
- Hasan killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting; CBS News reported more than 30 wounded, while the BBC reported 32.
- The BBC reported that Hasan’s execution would be the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years.
Vice President JD Vance cast doubt Friday on whether the Pentagon will livestream the planned December execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. Vance said he would not watch if it happens.
“I’ve seen this announcement,” Vance told reporters during a trip to Ohio. “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.” He added: “If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that Hasan’s death by firing squad would be public and available to watch, according to CBS News. The announcement prompted intense backlash, including from several Republicans in Congress, CBS News reported.
A reporter asked Vance, who is Catholic, how the plan to livestream the execution fit with his faith. Vance responded by condemning Hasan’s attack, calling it “the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11.”
Hasan, a psychiatrist and former Army major, opened fire at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas in 2009. CBS News reported that he wounded more than 30 people; the BBC put the number injured at 32 and said the 13 people killed were unarmed U.S. soldiers.
Vance said Hasan had gunned down soldiers he was supposed to treat “at their most vulnerable.” He urged people not to lose sight of the attack amid debate over the execution: “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.”
Hasan’s execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military in more than 60 years, according to the BBC.
President Donald Trump has not publicly commented on the livestream aspect of the execution, CBS News reported, though he has endorsed the proposed method. “Death penalty through firing squad, and he deserves it,” Trump told guests at a White House event marking Columbus Day.
Vance’s comments questioned whether the livestream would happen. He made clear that if it does, he will not watch.
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