Pete Hegseth has confirmed that the Department of War will be livestreaming the execution of Nidal Hasan. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, has been sentenced to die by firing squad at 1 pm on Dec. 3.
Those who tune in will get to see a firing squad riddle Hasan with bullets. Hegseth has explained that livestreaming his violent death is important, “because people need to understand there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
Hegseth’s announcement has been met with revulsion from across the political spectrum. Democrat Chris Murphy called it “disgusting” and “medieval,” asking if it was “mimicking ISIS executions” and said public executions are something “we abhor about terrorist groups.” Republican Thom Tillis echoed that, calling it “beyond disgusting,” and saying, “public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”
“Fake tough but real ugly”
Now Georgia homicide detective Patrick Skinner, a man with more first-hand experience of death and justice than most, has sounded the alarm. He took to X to say,
“As a homicide detective, I can say with all of my being that there is no lesson learned in seeing someone die. But there is a price. And that price is your peace. Your decency. And the soul of our society. We don’t have to be this way, this fake tough but real ugly way. Stop”
In a follow-up post, he added: “Making public martyrs of people who want to be public martyrs is as dumb as it is wrong. At every level.” Many in the comments echo that. One said: “i’m a nurse and have seen a lot of people die. even peaceful death affects you. we aren’t meant to watch and celebrate gruesome death,” and another, “this is bad for everyone’s souls. Certainly the souls of everyone in the US.”
Amnesty International agrees, saying, “The suggestion that an execution by firing squad should be livestreamed for public viewing is an appalling disregard for human dignity. Turning a state-sanctioned killing into a public spectacle only compounds the cruelty of the death penalty.”
If this livestreamed execution does go ahead, the United States will be in practically uncharted moral territory. Repressive regimes like Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea do host public executions, but even they don’t livestream or televise them for the general public. All of which puts the United States under Trump in some dispiriting company.
Published: Oct 9, 2026 05:13 am