U-turn on the live streaming shooting of Nidal Hasan, the attacker of the Fort Hood (Texas) base convicted of killing 13 soldiers on November 5, 2009. United States President Donald Trump has announced that his execution will not be broadcast online, effectively denying his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Pentagon’s chief spokesman, Sean Parnell, then intervened to explain that the president and Hegseth “are completely aligned” on the decision.
The declaration
“He will die, as expected, in front of a firing squad, but the event will not be live-streamed. However, the victims’ immediate family members will be able to witness the execution in person if they wish. They deserve to see justice in action,” Trump wrote on his Truth social network.
“I believe that livestreaming the execution for all to see would have been a strong deterrent, showing the world how America treats terrorists and scum like Hasan,” the president added. However, he explained that he changed his mind because “many decent people with good intentions would prefer not to see him die, neither in streaming nor through other visual means”.
Nidal Malik Hasan will however be executed on December 3 at Fort Hood, the same site as the scene of the November 5, 2009 massacre. In just ten minutes Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 army soldiers and wounded 32. Hasan was still a major and army doctor when he went into action. A US citizen of Palestinian origin, he had become radicalized over time. Before the massacre he had also received a transfer order.