Outrage over US military plan to livestream firing squad execution

The Pentagon plans to livestream Nidal Hasan’s firing squad execution at Fort Hood on December 3, prompting condemnation from the UN and lawmakers from both parties. Hasan was sentenced to death for killing 13 people at the Texas military base in 2009. The execution would be the first U.S. military firing squad execution since 1945, although the last U.S. military execution occurred in 1961.

Hasan was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013 after being convicted of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder.

Twelve of the people Hasan killed and 30 of those he wounded were soldiers.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said livestreaming an execution would constitute a public execution and breach the absolute prohibition of torture.

The Death Penalty Information Center says 135 soldiers have been executed by the U.S. military since 1916.

Amnesty International reported that at least 17 public executions occurred in 2025, including six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.

Published Oct 10, 2026 12:51 am KST

This Apr. 9, 2010 file photo released by the Bell County Sheriffs Department, shows U.S. Major Nidal Hasan after being moved from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio to Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the firing squad execution of convicted military base shooter Nidal Hasan will be "public," according to a video publicized by the Pentagon, Thursday. Bell County Sheriffs Department/AFP-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — Condemnation of the Pentagon's plan to livestream the firing squad execution of a convicted military base mass shooter escalated Friday, with the UN saying it would amount to torture and U.S. lawmakers from both parties slamming the move.

Nidal Hasan's execution — which is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, where he gunned down 13 people in 2009 — is set to be the first by U.S. military firing squad since 1945.

Senator Thom Tillis, a member of U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican Party, said Hasan should be put to death, but that streaming it would be "beyond disgusting."

"Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do," Tillis said.

Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said the plan is "disturbing and makes a mockery of our legal system."

A Pentagon official told AFP the execution would be streamed live, after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said "we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public."

Later, Hegseth wrote "Correct" when retweeting a media report about the planned livestream.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the move, saying in a message sent to AFP on Friday that "the livestreaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture."

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said it was a "barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered."

17 public executions in 2025

Hegseth said it would be the military's first firing squad execution since World War II — a reference to the case of Eddie Slovik, who was put to death for desertion in 1945.

"People need to understand that... there's serious consequence for these types of things," Hegseth said in a video disseminated Thursday on official Pentagon X accounts.

"I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was win, which was understand when the enemy attacks you, you need to stand your ground," Hegseth said.

The last U.S. military execution was carried out in 1961, when John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder.

The Death Penalty Information Center says that 135 soldiers have been executed by the U.S. military since 1916.

According to rights group Amnesty International, at least 17 public executions are known to have been carried out in 2025 — six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.

The Pentagon announced earlier this week that Trump had approved Hasan's execution for carrying out the Al-Qaeda-inspired attack at the base in Texas.

Twelve of those Hasan killed and 30 of the wounded were soldiers. He was shot and partially paralyzed by a civilian police officer who responded to the attack.

Hasan chose to conduct his own defense during the trial but called no witnesses and gave no testimony, and made no attempt to deny the charges.

He was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013.

Court-appointed defense attorneys expressed concern that he was seeking execution.

The court that convicted Hasan was told he was opposed to the U.S. military's occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and that he had spoken online with an alleged Al-Qaeda figure, radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen subsequently killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.

While mass shootings in the United States are common, they are relatively rare at military facilities.

The furor over Hasan's impending execution comes just days after convicted murderer Christa Pike survived a botched execution in the U.S. state of Tennessee, fueling debate about the death penalty in the country.

五角大楼计划于12月3日在胡德堡直播尼达尔·哈桑的枪决，此举引发联合国和两党议员的谴责。哈桑因2009年在德克萨斯州胡德堡军事基地枪杀13人而被判处死刑。这将是自​​1945年以来美国军方首次执行枪决，尽管美国上一次执行死刑是在1961年。

2013 年，哈桑因 45 项预谋杀人和预谋杀人未遂罪名成立，被军事陪审团判处死刑。

哈桑杀死的12人中有士兵，他打伤的30人中有士兵。

联合国人权事务高级专员表示，直播处决将构成公开处决，违反了绝对禁止酷刑的规定。

死刑信息中心表示，自 1916 年以来，美国军方已处决了 135 名士兵。

国际特赦组织报告称，2025 年至少有 17 人被公开处决，其中 6 人在阿富汗，11 人在伊朗。

发布于2026年10月10日凌晨12:51（韩国标准时间）

这张由贝尔县警长办公室发布的摄于2010年4月9日的资料照片显示，美国陆军少校尼达尔·哈桑从圣安东尼奥的布鲁克陆军医疗中心被转移到位于德克萨斯州贝尔顿的贝尔县监狱。据五角大楼周四公布的一段视频显示，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯表示，对被判犯有军事基地枪击案的尼达尔·哈桑的枪决将“公开进行”。贝尔县警长办公室/法新社-韩联社

华盛顿——周五，对五角大楼计划直播枪决一名被定罪的军事基地大规模枪击案凶手的谴责声浪升级，联合国称此举等同于酷刑，美国两党议员也纷纷抨击这一举动。

尼达尔·哈桑的死刑将于 12 月 3 日在胡德堡执行，他于 2009 年在那里枪杀了 13 人。这将是自​​ 1945 年以来美国军方行刑队首次执行死刑。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普所属的共和党成员、参议员汤姆·蒂利斯表示，哈桑应该被处死，但直播行刑“令人作呕”。

“公开处决是像伊朗和阿富汗这样的专制独裁政权才会采取的手段，”蒂利斯说。

众议院军事委员会首席民主党议员亚当·史密斯表示，该计划“令人不安，是对我们法律制度的嘲弄”。

五角大楼一名官员告诉法新社，行刑过程将进行现场直播。此前，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯表示，“我们将确保人们能够观看，确保它是公开的。”

后来，赫格塞斯在转发有关计划直播的媒体报道时写道“正确”。

联合国人权事务高级专员谴责了这一举动，他在周五发给法新社的一份声明中表示，“直播处决等同于公开处决，将违反禁止酷刑的绝对禁令。”

美国天主教主教会议主席保罗·科克利大主教表示，这是“对死亡文化的野蛮宣扬，必须重新考虑”。

2025年将执行17次公开死刑

赫格塞斯表示，这将是自二战以来军方首次执行枪决——指的是埃迪·斯洛维克的案例，他因逃兵罪于 1945 年被处决。

“人们需要明白……这类事情会带来严重的后果，”赫格塞斯在周四五角大楼X官方账号发布的一段视频中说道。

“我挺喜欢二战时期那种以胜利为目标的心态，那就是明白当敌人攻击你时，你需要坚守阵地，”赫格塞斯说。

美国最后一次执行军事处决是在 1961 年，当时约翰·贝内特因强奸和谋杀未遂被绞死。

死刑信息中心表示，自 1916 年以来，美国军方已处决了 135 名士兵。

据人权组织国际特赦组织称，2025 年已知至少有 17 人被公开处决——其中 6 人在阿富汗，11 人在伊朗。

五角大楼本周早些时候宣布，特朗普已批准处决哈桑，罪名是他在德克萨斯州的一个基地实施了受基地组织启发的袭击。

哈桑杀死的12人中有士兵，受伤的30人中有士兵。他本人在应对袭击时被一名赶来支援的平民警察开枪击中，导致部分瘫痪。

哈桑选择在审判期间为自己辩护，但他没有传唤证人，也没有作证，更没有试图否认指控。

2013年，他被军事陪审团判处死刑。

法院指定的辩护律师表示担忧，认为他是在寻求死刑。

判处哈桑有罪的法庭得知，他反对美国军队占领伊拉克和阿富汗，并且他曾与一名据称是基地组织成员的激进教士安瓦尔·奥拉基在网上交谈过，安瓦尔·奥拉基是一名美国公民，后来在也门的一次美国无人机袭击中丧生。

虽然美国经常发生大规模枪击事件，但在军事设施中却相对罕见。

就在哈桑即将被处决的消息引发轩然大波的几天前，被判谋杀罪的克丽斯塔·派克在美国田纳西州的一次失败的死刑执行中幸存下来，这加剧了该国关于死刑的辩论。