Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the execution of the convicted Fort Hood mass shooter would be shown in public caught people across the Pentagon and the Army off guard, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Hegseth made the announcement in an interview with far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday, which he’d visited to give a speech to the crew welcoming them home from their deployment to the Middle East.
“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,” Hegseth said during the interview.
That comment was the first time many in the Army and Pentagon heard about the idea of a firing squad’s execution of Nidal Hasan in Texas being made public, and there were immediately questions about what “public” would mean. There are Army regulations about who can watch a military execution, including family of the prisoner and of the victims, media representatives and a chaplain.
But it was decided by Hegseth, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell and his staff that “public” would mean it would be livestreamed, one source familiar said. The Pentagon then confirmed as much to the media, saying in a statement, “The Secretary is correct. It will be livestreamed. Details will follow.”
The Army referred questions to the Pentagon, and a Pentagon spokesperson said they had nothing to add beyond Thursday’s confirmation that it would be live-streamed.
The idea has shocked many service members and veterans and provoked a bipartisan backlash. Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on Friday that the livestream could ultimately go forward, saying he didn’t know “if that’s actually going to happen,” but said if it was, “I’m not going to be watching it.”
“It takes away everything America stands for when we do public executions,” one Army officer with multiple deployments to the Middle East told CNN. “The generational harm caused by allowing troops in uniform to stand in front of a man in a wheelchair and watch him get shot to death is irreparable.”
President Donald Trump welcomed the idea of a firing squad execution on Friday.
“We’re giving a man the death penalty who killed 14 soldiers a couple of years ago. Death penalty through firing squad — and he deserves it,” the president said to applause during a White House event honoring Christopher Columbus.
Trump told CNN-affiliate WSTM on Friday he was not involved in the decision to livestream the execution, adding, “but I understand the decision.”
Asked about the livestream by reporters at the White House earlier Friday, the president said his administration would make a determination about it, while reiterating that Hasan will be killed and “through firing squad.” He didn’t answer when a reporter asked if he’d watch the livestream.
FCC chair Brendan Carr told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” it was his understanding that the execution would not be shown on broadcast TV – but that he would defer to Hegseth and “his decisions on how to move forward.”
Many of the details around the livestream have yet to be finalized, and multiple sources told CNN that officials have been working to find answers since it was announced. A second source familiar told CNN that great care is being taken to determine which soldiers would fire on Hasan, taking into consideration the potential psychological impacts of doing so. A specific unit has been selected to carry out the execution, the source said.
Showing the execution on a livestream presents more challenges, the source said, including any effort to obscure from the public the identities of the soldiers involved. It’s also unclear where and if the execution will be streamed beyond the Pentagon’s own website. Broadcasters and social media platforms have strict restrictions on violent and disturbing content.
The first source familiar said there are still questions about whether soldiers can decline to participate, given that the military is moving forward with this as a legal order.
The second source familiar echoed the same, saying while many soldiers may have “taken a life in combat,” this is a very different situation.
“This is a situation where the guy has done a very bad thing and hurt a lot of people, years removed,” the second source said. “He’s going to be immobile and put up like a target.”
By CNN
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