Trump cancels livestream of Fort Hood shooter’s execution

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the government will not livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, reversing a plan announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after it drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans.

“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Families of the people killed in the Fort Hood shooting may view the execution in person if they choose, he said.

Hasan is scheduled to be executed Dec. 3. He was sentenced to death in 2013 for killing 13 people and injuring 32 others at the Texas military installation. CBS News reported that the execution is set for 1 p.m. The BBC identified Hasan as a former Army psychiatrist and said the shooting took place in 2009. The Guardian gave the year as 2019 in its coverage.

Hegseth had said the execution would be available to watch online. The Guardian reported that he made the announcement last week in an interview with the broadcaster Real America’s Voice. Hasan’s execution would be the first military execution in more than 60 years, according to the BBC and The Guardian. The Guardian reported that a public broadcast would have been the first of its kind in U.S. history.

Trump had previously supported showing the execution online, the BBC reported. In Thursday’s post, he said a broadcast “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan.” But, he added, “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”

The proposal drew bipartisan objections. According to The Guardian, Democrats and several Republicans argued that broadcasting an execution would make a public “spectacle” of it and could turn Hasan into a martyr. CBS News described the backlash to the Pentagon’s plan as significant.

Vice President JD Vance had also questioned whether the broadcast would happen. Asked about the plan on Friday, he told reporters, “I’ve seen these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.” Vance said he would not watch if the execution were streamed.

Trump’s decision leaves the execution scheduled to proceed without an online audience. In his post, he said the victims’ families should have the option to attend: “They deserve to witness JUSTICE!”