Trump announced the cancellation on Truth Social on 15 October 2026. The firing squad remains scheduled for 3 December, and only immediate families of Hasan's victims may watch in person.
Pete Hegseth announced the livestream in the week of 5 October 2026. JD Vance and Mike Johnson said they would not watch, and a Washington Post and ABC News poll found 80 percent of Americans disapproved of the stream.
Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire on 5 November 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32. A military court convicted him in 2013 and sentenced him to death.
John Galligan told the BBC that Hasan is paralysed from the chest down and that Trump apparently did not know this when he approved the livestream.
On Thursday, 15 October 2026, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the firing-squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will not be livestreamed. The execution itself stays on the calendar for 3 December. Trump had said he supported the Pentagon plan, and on 9 October he said he fully approved a livestream while the Pentagon was still making its decision. According to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity, his main worry was whether a broadcast would deter other mass shootings. In his post, he argued that a televised execution could have served as a strong deterrent, then wrote:
“many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
He added that only immediate family members of Hasan's victims could attend the execution in person.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the livestream plan in the week of 5 October 2026, arguing that people needed to understand that such acts carry serious consequences. Vice President JD Vance said he would not watch the execution if it were broadcast, and House Speaker Mike Johnson gave the same answer. Republican senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a sharp critic of Hegseth, publicly condemned the idea of a public, livestreamed execution. Democrats and Republicans in Congress, religious leaders, human rights groups, military officials and even survivors of the shooting objected. A Washington Post and ABC News poll found that 80 percent of Americans disapproved of the possible stream, and the United Nations condemned the plan as appalling.
Hasan, a former Army officer and psychiatrist, opened fire on 5 November 2009 at Fort Hood in Texas, where soldiers were waiting for health checks and vaccinations in a medical building. He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. A military court convicted him in 2013 and sentenced him to death. Hasan's lawyer, John Galligan, said Trump's reversal did not surprise him, and he called Hegseth's livestream decision foolish from the start and a violation of Army rules. Galligan also said Hasan has been paralysed from the chest down, and that Trump apparently did not know this when he approved the broadcast. Galligan added that it remains unclear whether Hasan knows about the reversal.
The execution is still scheduled for 3 December, when Hasan is to be shot by a firing squad of soldiers. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth had discussed the decision with Trump beforehand and that the two were in full agreement. Under the military justice system, a military execution requires presidential approval, and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces must review a death sentence before it can be carried out. Amnesty International counted more than 2,700 executions across 17 countries in 2025, but only Iran and Afghanistan made any of them public. Amnesty reported 11 public executions in Iran and six in Afghanistan that year.
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Donald Trump said on Thursday, 15 October 2026, that the execution of the Fort Hood shooter will not be broadcast live. The firing squad still goes ahead on 3 December, and only immediate families of the victims may attend in person.
AI text based on reports by Stirile ProTV, Deutsche Welle, BBC and other publishers. Changed .