Vance Questions Hasan Execution Livestream Plan, Says He Would Not Watch/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Vice President JD Vance questioned Friday whether the Pentagon will proceed with plans to livestream Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution in December. Vance said he would not watch a broadcast but urged people to remember the victims of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. President Donald Trump separately defended the firing squad execution without addressing the announced livestream.
Quick Look
- Vance’s doubts: He questioned whether the execution broadcast would actually happen.
- Personal position: Vance said he would not watch if it were livestreamed.
- Pentagon announcement: Officials confirmed the livestream plan Thursday.
- Trump’s response: The president endorsed Hasan’s execution by firing squad.
- Conviction: Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 at Fort Hood in 2009.
Deep Look
Vance Questions Whether Execution Will Be Livestreamed
Vice President JD Vance expressed uncertainty Friday about the Pentagon’s announced plan to livestream the December execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
Speaking with reporters in Hebron, Kentucky, Vance said, “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” when asked about the plan confirmed by Pentagon officials Thursday.
He also made clear that he would not watch a broadcast.
Vice President Emphasizes Hasan’s Crimes
Vance sought to redirect attention from the controversy surrounding a public execution to the people Hasan killed.
“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,” he said.
“Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it,” Vance added.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others during the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood.
Trump Defends Firing Squad Execution
Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump told an audience at a White House event that Hasan would receive “the death penalty through firing squad. And he deserves it.”
Trump described Hasan as “a maniac.”
The president, a longtime supporter of capital punishment, did not discuss the Pentagon’s plan to broadcast the execution for the broader public.
Trump Supports Firing Squad but Leaves Livestream Decision Open
President Donald Trump, who approved Hasan’s execution, had endorsed the firing squad method during a political event in Texas on Wednesday, saying “he deserves it.”
Asked Friday whether he wanted the execution livestreamed, Trump did not offer a firm position.
“Well, they’re making a determination about that,” Trump told reporters before departing for a political event in Syracuse, New York.
He nevertheless reiterated his support for carrying out the death sentence by firing squad.
“He will be killed. He will be, through firing squad,” Trump told reporters. “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.”
Trump did not respond when asked whether he would watch a livestream of the execution.
Catholic Bishops’ Leader Condemns Public Broadcast
Earlier Friday, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned the government’s decision to broadcast Hasan’s execution.
“It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War’s decision to publicly livestream the execution,” Coakley said in a statement.
He described the decision as “a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.”
His criticism added to growing opposition from lawmakers across party lines over making the execution available for public viewing.
Republican and Democratic Senators Urge Pentagon to Reverse Course
Members of both parties condemned the livestream proposal, describing it as “gruesome” and “disgusting.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, compared the proposed broadcast to public executions carried out by authoritarian governments.
“Beyond disgusting,” Tillis said. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”
Lawmakers argued that broadcasting the execution would conflict with American values and the country’s system of justice. They also warned that the spectacle could provoke retaliation or other blowback against U.S. military personnel and Americans overseas.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan, saying there was a reason “almost no countries in the world engage in this barbaric practice.”
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska emphasized that the way the United States administers justice matters. She urged the Pentagon “to reverse this gruesome decision.”
Utah Republican Sen. John Curtis invoked the bloody public spectacles of ancient Rome, warning that livestreaming the execution risked “feeding that appetite” for corrosive entertainment.
“I urge him to reconsider,” Curtis said.
Execution Debate Follows Failed Tennessee Lethal Injection
Trump approved Hasan’s execution by firing squad days after Tennessee’s unsuccessful attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection late last month.
The failed execution prompted Tennessee’s governor to halt further executions in the state for the remainder of the year.
Hegseth said the military has not executed a service member by firing squad since World War II.
The most recent military execution occurred on April 13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging.
The Pentagon’s livestream announcement has brought renewed scrutiny to how the government intends to carry out Hasan’s sentencewith Vance questioning whether the broadcast will happen and lawmakers pressing officials to abandon it.
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