Trump Cancels Controversial Plan to Livestream Execution
US President Donald Trump has cancelled a controversial plan to broadcast the execution of a former soldier live. He scrapped the proposal after it drew criticism.
According to detikcom, the US had initially planned to livestream the execution by firing squad of former US soldier Nidal Hasan, who was convicted of a mass shooting that killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, according to AFP, that Hasan’s execution would take place before the “public”. Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, carried out the mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 people.
The execution would be the first carried out by the US military since 1961. It would also be the first US execution by firing squad since the Second World War.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that Trump had approved Hegseth’s recommendation to use a firing squad to execute Hasan. In a video statement posted on the Pentagon’s official X account on Thursday, 8 October, Hegseth said Hasan “will face a firing squad of soldiers, as he should, and we will make sure people can watch it, that it will be done in public”.
“People need to understand that there are serious consequences for this kind of action,” Hegseth said in the statement, an excerpt from an interview with right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
Asked to clarify what Hegseth meant by saying the execution would be public, the Pentagon said it would be livestreamed.
“The execution will be livestreamed. More details will follow,” a Pentagon official, who declined to be named, told AFP.
Hegseth stressed that this would be the US military’s first firing-squad execution since the Second World War. He referred to the case of Eddie Slovik, who was executed for desertion in 1945.
“I like the mentality we had in World War II, the mentality to win, which understands that when the enemy attacks, you have to hold your ground,” the defence secretary said.
In a separate video, when asked whether Hasan had made a final request, Hegseth replied: “It doesn’t matter. We’ll see him on 3 December.”
The date is thought to refer to Hasan’s scheduled execution. The Pentagon has not officially announced when it will take place.
The last US military execution was in 1961, when John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder. According to human rights group Amnesty International, at least 17 public executions were recorded worldwide last year: six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.
Hasan was sentenced to death by a US military jury in 2013 for carrying out a mass shooting inspired by al-Qaeda. He killed 13 people, including 12 serving soldiers, and wounded 30 others. Hasan was partially paralysed after being shot by a civilian police officer sent to the scene following the attack.
Trump said no decision had yet been made on whether Hasan’s execution would be broadcast publicly. However, he said he supported execution by firing squad.
“They’re making a decision on that, but he will be executed,” Trump said of plans to livestream Hasan’s execution, which is scheduled for 3 December.
“I don’t really care how he dies, as long as he dies,” he added.
Plan draws condemnation
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham condemned the US plan to livestream Hasan’s execution, describing it as disgusting.
Asked about the possibility of a public execution in the US, Burnham told the podcast The Rest Is Politics, in an episode due to be released on Monday, 12 October: “I would never support that.”
He said he did not want to see such a thing and described the plan to livestream the execution as disgusting.
“That is something I would not want to see happen anywhere in the world,” he said.
“I think it is deeply disgusting in many ways,” he added.
Trump cancels livestream plan
Trump has now cancelled the controversial plan to livestream Hasan’s execution. His decision, reported by AFP on Friday, 16 October 2026, overturns Hegseth’s proposal.
The plan for a public execution by livestream had faced opposition both in the US and abroad. Politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties, the Catholic Church and the United Nations had all expressed outrage.
In a statement on his Truth Social account, Trump said the original aim of broadcasting Hasan’s execution live was to provide “a strong deterrent”. He acknowledged, however, that many people objected to the proposal.
“He will still be executed, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be televised,” Trump said.
“However, the immediate family members of the victims may attend the execution if they wish. They deserve to witness JUSTICE being served!” he added.
Trump’s statement suggested that he personally had no objection to livestreaming the execution.
“I think livestreaming the execution so everyone can watch might be a strong deterrent to the world, showing how America deals with terrorists and scum like Hasan,” he said.
“However, many good people with sincere intentions would rather not watch his death, whether by streaming or through any other visual means,” he added.
The reversal is a setback for Hegseth, who is facing intense scrutiny over a deadlock in the war against Iran and its repercussions. The situation is also weighing on Trump’s Republican Party ahead of the US midterm elections in early November.