Hegseth wants to livestream a firing squad execution. What we know about the rare move

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation Thursday that the firing squad death of the Fort Hood mass shooter will be livestreamed was swiftly met with bipartisan outrage and questions over how the public execution will be carried out.

Firing squad executions are rare in the US (though they have been sparingly used as an alternative to lethal injection recently,) and public displays of the death penalty are even less common. The last public execution is considered to be the 1936 hanging of Rainey Bethea , a Black man from Kentucky who was found guilty of raping a White woman by an all-White jury.

About 90 years later, on December 3 at 1 p.m. local time, the public will be able to watch Nidal Hasan’s death at Texas’ Fort Hood, where he killed 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting .

“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 told far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec in an interview aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday.

But Vice President JD Vance cast doubt Friday on whether the execution would actually be livestreamed, saying, “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.” He added that he would not watch the execution if it were livestreamed.

Sheri Lynn Johnson, the assistant director of the Death Penalty Project at Cornell Law School, told CNN that while access to executions has been given to members of the media, the defendant’s counsel and, in some cases, their family members, allowing the public to watch could desensitize the public to death.

“It’s … particularly celebrating death in a very violent way, which seems to me both an additional infringement on the dignity of the person executed, and, and also something that hardens the public to the idea that murder is wrong or death is wrong,” Johnson said.

Here’s what we know so far about the scheduled livestream of Hasan’s execution.

Hasan’s death will be carried out by US “soldiers with rifles,” Hegseth said.

CNN asked the Pentagon several logistical questions, including who the soldiers would be, how they will be chosen and who will be running the livestream. The department said it will provide more details as it gets them.

Military death penalties and their methods must be approved by the president. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump agreed to Hegseth’s recommendation of a firing squad for Hasan. The move set up what would be the US Army’s first such execution of a soldier since World War II and the first imposition of any death penalty on an armed service member in 65 years.

More broadly, there have only been six firing squad executions since 1977, according to the Death Penalty Information Center . Three of them took place last year in South Carolina — 15 years after the previous one.

Firing squad executions could be making a comeback as a handful of US death penalty states explore alternatives to lethal injection, by far the nation’s dominant execution method.

States have faced several issues with lethal injection deaths, like legal challenges by inmates, inadequate supplies and failed executions, as seen recently in the case of Christa Pike , who survived an execution attempt in Tennessee. In comparison, experts say the firing squad is generally thought to be fast and effective. But the fact that the method is overtly violent has likely contributed to states’ hesitancy to use it.

Only five states permit a firing squad to be used for executions, according to the DPIC . As of July 2026, it is the main method in Idaho.

Timothy McVeigh, the man convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, had requested that his execution be televised nationally.

An entertainment company even filed a legal challenge to be able to live stream it, but a federal court rejected the attempt.

Ultimately, the execution by lethal injection was televised to a limited group of people that included survivors of the bombing and victims’ families.

Then-US Attorney General John Ashcroft , in his approval of the closed-circuit telecast, recognized that there are “precedential procedures” in televising the execution but made the case that the McVeigh case had “unique circumstances.”

According to reports from Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty, public executions took place in Afghanistan and Iran in recent years. In 2025 , there were six public executions in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.

The organization has also said earlier this year that through interviews, it has learned that North Korea also uses the method “to terrorize entire communities into compliance.”

The announcement of Hasan’s public execution drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, with people making the case that America should not be like authoritarian countries where public executions more commonly take place.

Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said in a post on X , “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”

Georgia GOP Rep. Austin Scott raised similar concerns, saying that while he supports the death penalty, “live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that.”

Republican Sen. John Curtis on X highlighted the “bloody spectacles” that took place in ancient Rome, writing, “A civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment.”

“Secretary Hegseth’s plan to livestream the Fort Hood execution risks feeding that appetite. The victims deserve justice administered with solemnity,” Curtis wrote. “Broadcasting a death diminishes us and is not an effective deterrent. I urge him to reconsider.”

Similarly, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut called the plan “disgusting” and “medieval.”

“What is he mimicking ISIS executions?,” he told CNN’s Erin Burnett, referring to Hegseth.

The president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops called it a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death.”

“The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people,” Archbishop Paul Coakley said in a statement .

Meanwhile, Joe Kent, a former high-ranking US intelligence official who resigned over the Iran war earlier this year, argued that Hasan’s death could be used as propaganda by terrorists.

“Streaming his execution is not just a stain on our morality—it also gives the terrorists free propaganda that they will use to radicalize & recruit more terrorists like” Hasan, Kent said in a post on X .

Peter Bergen, a CNN national security analyst, said the livestream could give terrorist groups material to “exploit.”

“If a video exists, groups will try to turn it into propaganda,” he said. Bergen, who has covered Hasan extensively, added that the gunman sees himself as a “religious warrior” and a “public video of his execution would play into his narrative of who he is.”

CNN’s Haley Britzky, Dakin Andone and Alejandra Jaramillo contributed to this report.

贝尔县警长办公室/盖蒂图片社

国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯周四证实，将对胡德堡大规模枪击案凶手执行枪决，这一消息迅速引发了两党人士的强烈愤慨，并引发了人们对公开处决将如何进行的质疑。

在美国，枪决死刑非常罕见（尽管近年来偶尔会作为注射死刑的替代方案使用），公开执行死刑更是少见。最后一次公开执行死刑被认为是1936年对雷尼·贝西亚的绞刑，他是一名来自肯塔基州的黑人，被一个全部由白人组成的陪审团判处强奸一名白人女性罪名成立。

大约 90 年后，12 月 3 日下午 1 点（当地时间），公众将能够观看尼达尔·哈桑在德克萨斯州胡德堡被处决的画面。2009 年，他在那里制造了一起大规模枪击案，造成 13 人死亡。

“我们会确保人们能够看到它，确保它是公开的，因为人们需要明白，这类事情会带来严重的后果，”赫格塞斯周三在“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航空母舰上接受极右翼播客主持人杰克·波索比克采访时说道。

但副总统JD·万斯周五对行刑是否会进行直播表示怀疑，他说：“我不知道这是否真的会发生。”他还补充说，即使行刑进行直播，他也不会观看。

康奈尔大学法学院死刑项目助理主任谢里·林恩·约翰逊告诉 CNN，虽然媒体成员、被告律师以及在某些情况下被告的家属可以观看死刑执行，但允许公众观看可能会使公众对死亡麻木。

约翰逊说：“这……尤其体现了以非常暴力的方式庆祝死亡，在我看来，这既是对被处决者尊严的进一步侵犯，也是让公众更加难以接受谋杀或死亡是错误观念的事情。”

以下是我们目前所了解的关于哈桑死刑执行直播安排的信息。

赫格塞斯说，哈桑的死将由美国“持步枪的士兵”执行。

CNN向五角大楼提出了一些后勤方面的问题，包括参战士兵的人员构成、选拔方式以及直播由谁负责。五角大楼表示，一旦掌握更多信息，将会立即公布。

军事死刑及其执行方式必须经总统批准。本周早些时候，唐纳德·特朗普总统同意了赫格塞斯的建议，对哈桑执行枪决。此举将是美国陆军自二战以来首次处决士兵，也是65年来首次对现役军人执行死刑。

更广泛地说，根据死刑信息中心的数据，自1977年以来，仅有六次枪决死刑执行。其中三次发生在去年的南卡罗来纳州——距离上一次枪决已过去了15年。

随着美国少数几个保留死刑的州探索注射死刑之外的其他死刑方式，枪决可能会卷土重来。注射死刑是目前美国最主要的死刑执行方式。

各州在执行注射死刑方面面临诸多问题，例如囚犯的法律挑战、物资短缺以及执行失败等，例如最近田纳西州克丽斯塔·派克（Christa Pike）的案例，她侥幸逃过一劫。相比之下，专家表示，枪决通常被认为快速有效。但这种方法过于暴力，可能是各州对其使用犹豫不决的原因之一。

根据美国死刑信息中心（DPIC）的数据，只有五个州允许使用枪决执行死刑。截至2026年7月，枪决是爱达荷州的主要死刑执行方式。

因 1995 年俄克拉荷马城爆炸案而被定罪的蒂莫西·麦克维曾要求在全国范围内直播他的死刑执行过程。

一家娱乐公司甚至提起法律诉讼，要求获得直播权，但联邦法院驳回了这一请求。

最终，执行注射死刑的过程通过电视向包括爆炸案幸存者和遇难者家属在内的一小部分人进行了直播。

当时的美国司法部长约翰·阿什克罗夫特在批准闭路电视直播时承认，电视直播死刑有“先例程序”，但他辩称麦克维案有“特殊情况”。

据反对死刑的国际特赦组织报告，近年来阿富汗和伊朗都曾执行公开处决。2025年，阿富汗执行了6例公开处决，伊朗执行了11例。

该组织今年早些时候还表示，通过采访，他们了解到朝鲜也使用这种方法“恐吓整个社区，迫使其服从”。

哈桑被公开处决的消息引起了两党人士的批评，有人认为美国不应该像那些公开处决更为常见的专制国家那样。

即将卸任的北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯在X网站上发帖称：“公开处决是伊朗和阿富汗等压迫性独裁政权才会做的事情。这种事不应该发生在美国。”

佐治亚州共和党众议员奥斯汀·斯科特也表达了类似的担忧，他说，虽然他支持死刑，但“直播处决是圣战分子才会做的事。美国不应该这样做。”

共和党参议员约翰·柯蒂斯在 X 上强调了古罗马发生的“血腥场面”，他写道：“当一个文明将处决作为一种娱乐形式而培养出来时，它就会衰落。”

“赫格塞斯部长计划直播胡德堡的死刑执行，这无异于助长这种风气。受害者理应得到庄严的审判，”柯蒂斯写道。“直播死刑会削弱我们的威慑力，也起不到有效的威慑作用。我敦促他重新考虑。”

同样，康涅狄格州民主党参议员克里斯·墨菲称该计划“令人作呕”且“如同中世纪”。

“他是在模仿ISIS的处决方式吗？”他告诉CNN的艾琳·伯内特，指的是赫格塞斯。

美国天主教主教会议主席称其为“野蛮地宣扬死亡文化”。

“即使是对犯下严重罪行的人进行公开处决，也只会进一步破坏我们国家的道德结构，并玷污我们人民的良知，”保罗·科克利大主教在一份声明中说。

与此同时，今年早些时候因伊朗战争而辞职的美国前高级情报官员乔·肯特认为，哈桑的死可能会被恐怖分子用作宣传。

“直播他的处决不仅是我们道德上的污点，而且还为恐怖分子提供了免费的宣传，他们会利用这些宣传来激进化和招募更多像哈桑一样的恐怖分子，”肯特在 X 上发帖说。

CNN国家安全分析师彼得·伯根表示，直播可能会为恐怖组织提供可“利用”的素材。

“如果视频存在，一些团体就会试图将其用于宣传，”他说。曾对哈桑进行过大量报道的伯根补充说，这名枪手自视为“宗教战士”，而“他被处决的视频如果公开，将正中他的下怀，符合他对自身形象的描述。”

CNN的Haley Britzky、Dakin Andone和Alejandra Jaramillo对本报道亦有贡献。