More than six decades after the United States last carried out a military execution, the country is preparing for a moment that could reopen painful questions about justice, punishment and the limits of public spectacle.
At the centre of the unfolding controversy is Nidal Hasan, the former US Army major and psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in a shooting at Fort Hood military base in Texas in November 2009.
Hasan is scheduled to face a firing squad on December 3, in what would mark the first US military execution since 1961 and the first military execution by firing squad since 1945, if the sentence proceeds as announced.
But beyond the prospect of a rare military execution, another element has pushed the case into fresh controversy: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the execution would be made available for public viewing through a livestream.
The announcement has raised a difficult question: should the execution of a convicted mass killer be presented as a public lesson in accountability, or does broadcasting the killing risk turning the machinery of justice into a spectacle?
A Mass Shooting That Shook The US Military
The story goes back to November 5, 2009, when gunfire erupted inside a crowded medical building at Fort Hood, one of the largest US military installations.
Soldiers had gathered at the facility for medical examinations and vaccinations as they prepared for deployment. What should have been a routine military process became a scene of deadly violence.
Hasan, then an Army psychiatrist, opened fire, killing 13 people and injuring several others.
The attack became the deadliest non-combat shooting at a US military installation, leaving families grieving and raising troubling questions about how such violence could occur inside a facility entrusted with the safety and readiness of American troops.
The incident also cast a long shadow over the military community, where the expectation of discipline and security collided with the horror of an attack carried out by one of its own.
For the victims’ families, the planned execution represents another chapter in a case that has remained part of the country’s painful military history.
Hegseth Wants The Public To Watch
The planned execution took a new turn after Hegseth discussed the case during an interview with conservative television outlet Real America’s Voice.
According to the report, Hegseth said Hasan would be executed by firing squad and indicated that the process would be livestreamed.
He argued that the public should witness the consequences of crimes of this nature, presenting visibility as part of the message surrounding the punishment.
The US Army secretary has reportedly scheduled the execution for December 3 at Fort Hood.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell also said Hegseth had recommended the execution and that President Donald Trump had approved it.
The proposal, however, raises questions beyond the punishment itself. Public access to an execution can be defended as a form of transparency, but broadcasting a state-administered killing also forces a debate over dignity, deterrence and the line between accountability and spectacle.
Would allowing the public to watch reinforce the seriousness of the crime, or would it risk reducing a grave legal proceeding to a televised event?
What Hasan Said During His Trial
Hasan was convicted at a court-martial in 2013. During the proceedings, he admitted responsibility for the shooting and apologised for what he described as “any mistakes”.
He also told the court that he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Those remarks formed part of a case that drew intense attention because of the scale of the killings, Hasan’s position within the Army and the circumstances surrounding the attack.
His conviction placed him at the centre of one of the most consequential criminal cases in the history of the US military justice system.
The planned execution now brings that case back into the public eye, more than 16 years after the shooting.
A Rare Return To Military Execution
The proposed execution would revive a practice that has been absent from the US military for generations.
The last US military execution took place in 1961, when an Army private was hanged after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old Austrian girl. The execution had been authorised by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and proceeded despite an appeal for clemency from the victim’s family to his successor, John F. Kennedy.
The last military execution by firing squad occurred much earlier, in January 1945, when Army deserter Eddie Slovik was shot during the final months of World War II.
Hasan’s scheduled execution would therefore mark two historic milestones: the return of military executions after more than six decades and the first use of a firing squad for a US military execution in more than 80 years.
The rarity of the procedure has added to the significance of the announcement, while the prospect of a livestream has made the case even more contentious.
Can The Execution Proceed As Planned?
Although Trump has reportedly approved the recommendation, presidential approval does not, by itself, settle every legal requirement.
Under the US military justice system, an execution must undergo the required appellate review and reach a final legal determination before it can be carried out.
That means the announced date remains subject to the applicable legal process.
The December 3 deadline has nevertheless placed Hasan’s case back at the centre of a national conversation about the military’s authority to impose capital punishment, the role of the president and the public’s right to witness state action.
Justice, Retribution And The Power Of The State
For the families of the 13 people killed at Fort Hood, the proposed execution may represent the culmination of a long pursuit of accountability.
For others, the prospect of broadcasting the killing raises a different concern: whether public visibility serves justice or risks turning punishment into a performance.
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The distinction matters because an execution is not simply the final chapter in a criminal case. It is also an exercise of the state’s most irreversible power over an individual.
Supporters of the plan may argue that the gravity of Hasan’s crimes warrants the harshest punishment available under the military justice system. Critics may question whether livestreaming an execution adds anything to the administration of justice beyond its shock value.
The competing arguments do not erase the scale of the Fort Hood tragedy. Thirteen people were killed, others were wounded, and families have lived with the consequences of the attack for years.
But the proposed livestream introduces another question into an already painful case: should the public be invited to watch an execution to understand the consequences of a crime, or should the justice system’s authority be demonstrated without turning death into a broadcast?
If the execution proceeds on December 3, the United States will not merely be carrying out a punishment rarely used in its military history. It will also be confronting a renewed debate over how justice should be administered, witnessed and remembered.