Trump cancels Hegseth’s planned livestream for Nidal Hasan execution

President Trump on Wednesday said he was canceling the livestream of the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former U.S. Army major who killed 13 people in the 2009 attack on Fort Hood.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said the execution would be livestreamed, a decision that had come under substantial criticism, including from GOP senators who said it would bring the U.S. to the level of terrorist groups who broadcast executions.

Trump in his statement said he had heard that criticism, and he said that while Hasan deserved to be executed, it would not be livestreamed. He also argued the livestream might have deterred terrorists.

“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed. That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose. They deserve to witness JUSTICE!”

Hasan killed 13 people and injured 32 others when he opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009.

Hegseth announced plans to livestream the Dec. 3 execution earlier this month, but even inside the administration, the decision seemed to have caused some discomfort.

Vice President Vance, for example, said Hasan deserved to die but that he would not be watching a livestream of the execution.

Several Republican members of the House and Senate pushed back at Hegseth’s decision, arguing the focus should be on justice for the victims and their families and that the livestream of the execution is an act only dictatorships perform.

“A civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment,” Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said last week, adding the planned livestream “risks feeding that appetite.”

“The victims deserve justice administered with solemnity,” Curtis said. “Broadcasting a death diminishes us and is not an effective deterrent. I urge him to reconsider.”

Hegseth announced the decision during an interview with right-wing provocateur Jack Posobiec, stating people need to comprehend the consequences for the act carried out by Hasan.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” the defense secretary said during the interview.

Over the weekend, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the decision to livestream the military execution, but emphasized that no one has to watch it.

“I don’t see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this,” Mullin said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“I think people need to understand, if you attack America, we will come after you, and we will make sure that the punishment fits the crime,” he added.

“I have no sympathy for him, and I give absolutely zero thought to the way that this man dies,” Mullin said.

Hasan opened fire at the Fort Hood processing center in November 2009 where he killed 13 people and injured 32 others in what was the deadliest mass shooting ever on a U.S. military installation.

An American-born Muslim, Hasan was heard screaming “Allahu akbar” during the attack at the base, which ended when he was shot four times, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

“Nidal Malik Hasan, a former U.S. Army Major turned traitor, is a very bad and evil man, who killed 13 people, including a pregnant soldier, who died, along with her unborn son, and injured, very seriously, 32 more innocent people. Barack Hussein Obama’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intercepted electronic communications between Hasan and the radical Yemeni-American cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki. When reviewed by his FBI terrorism task force, investigators concluded that Hasan’s emails were not a threat. This assessment of the Obama Administration’s actions was later considered to be a key intelligence failure. With all of that being said, I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device. He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed. That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose. They deserve to witness JUSTICE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”