‘Barbaric’: US lawmakers condemn plan to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution

Republican and Democratic lawmakers condemn Pentagon plan to livestream the Fort Hood shooter’s execution by firing squad.

This undated photo shows former Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan [File: Bell County Sheriff's Department via AP]

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has received widespread condemnation over his announcement to livestream the execution of a man who killed 13 people at a military base in Texas.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the US Congress were quick to react in the hours after the Pentagon chief told a conservative news outlet on Thursday that former US Army Major Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad would be made public.

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“Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting”, Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who recently expressed regret for his 2025 vote to confirm Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense, said on social media. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”

Republican Congressman Austin Scott, who serves on the US House Armed Services Committee, also opposed the announcement.

“I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that,” the Georgia lawmaker said on X.

Scott’s Republican colleague in the US House, Congressman Rob Bresnahan, said, “The focus should be on justice for the victims and their families.”

“Their pain deserves respect, not a public show,” Bresnahan said.

Al Jazeera has not heard back from the three Republican senators – Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski – who opposed Hegseth’s confirmation.

Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, was sentenced to death in August 2013 after a military jury found him guilty of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder for the shooting at Fort Hood.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump authorised the use of a firing squad in Hasan’s execution. Hegseth said Thursday that it would take place at the military base on December 3 at 1pm local time (19:00 GMT), the same time the 2009 shooting took place.

US Senator Jack Reed, who serves as the top Democrat on the US Senate Armed Services Committee, called on the Trump administration on Friday to “reconsider” the decision, saying it is a “gift to anti-American terrorist recruiters”.

“Live-streaming an execution is a barbaric spectacle,” the Rhode Island lawmaker told Al Jazeera in a statement. “This is yet another stunt by Secretary Hegseth to distract from his tenure’s repeated failings which have only weakened our national security and standing in the world”.

Reed added, “It is absolutely shameful and damaging to America’s interests and core values.”

His fellow Democrat, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, rolled his eyes and appeared visibly shocked during a CNN interview on Thursday when asked about Hegseth’s decision.

“That’s disgusting”, Murphy told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “Is he mimicking ISIS [ISIL] executions? I understand that, in this country, we have the death penalty, but public executions [are] medieval”.

But not every lawmaker is opposed to the idea.

Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee said on social media that “public execution is what this terrorist deserves”, calling Hegseth’s decision “excellent”.

US Vice President JD Vance, during a trip to his home state of Ohio on Friday, told reporters he won’t “be watching” the livestream of Hasan’s death.

“I see these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen”, Vance, who served in the US Marine Corps, said. “Let’s sort of see … when he’s executed.”

US Army policy limits who may witness military executions. According to regulation issued by the military branch, no person under the age of 18 may witness an execution. Victims, their family members, the prisoner’s lawyer and at least two members of the news media are among the limited number of people who are allowed to view.

For Hasan’s execution to be “public”, Reed said Trump would have to approve a waiver.

When asked whether Trump would grant that permission, the White House referred Al Jazeera to the Pentagon.

The head of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates broadcast communications in the country, said on Friday he would defer to the Pentagon on whether US networks could air the execution.

“Ultimately, we’re going to defer to Secretary Hegseth and, you know, his decisions on how to move forward with this,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a CNBC interview.

An official at the Defense Department told Al Jazeera that the agency has “nothing additional to provide”.

The United Nations has strongly condemned the livestreaming of Hasan’s execution, stating that it would breach international law.

A spokesperson for the UN human rights office told the news agency AFP that broadcasting the execution would be “tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture”.

共和党和民主党议员谴责五角大楼计划直播对胡德堡枪击案凶手的枪决。

这张未注明日期的照片显示的是前陆军精神科医生尼达尔·哈桑少校。[图片来源：贝尔县警长办公室，经美联社授权]

美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯宣布将直播处决一名在德克萨斯州军事基地杀害了 13 人的凶手，此举受到了广泛谴责。

五角大楼负责人周四告诉一家保守派新闻媒体，美国前陆军少校尼达尔·哈桑被行刑队枪决的消息将会公之于众。消息一出，美国国会两党议员迅速做出反应。

胡德堡枪击案三名嫌犯名单（第一名）：将被枪决的嫌犯须知

赫格塞斯称，对胡德堡枪击案凶手的枪决将“公开”进行，这是名单中的第2条。

美国三名枪击案凶手死刑执行者中，有三人计划直播行刑：这合法吗？

“哈桑应该被判处死刑，但公开处决并进行直播？简直令人作呕。”共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯在社交媒体上说道。他最近对自己在2025年投票支持赫格塞斯出任国防部长表示后悔。“公开处决是伊朗和阿富汗等专制独裁政权才会做的事。这种事不应该发生在美国。”

美国众议院军事委员会成员、共和党众议员奥斯汀·斯科特也反对这项声明。

“我绝对支持判处死刑，但直播处决是圣战分子才会做的事。美国不应该这样做，”这位佐治亚州议员在X电视台说道。

斯科特的共和党同僚、美国众议院议员罗布·布雷斯纳汉表示：“重点应该放在为受害者及其家属伸张正义上。”

“他们的痛苦应该得到尊重，而不是公开示众，”布雷斯纳汉说。

半岛电视台尚未收到反对赫格塞斯任命的三位共和党参议员——苏珊·柯林斯、米奇·麦康奈尔和丽莎·穆尔科斯基——的回复。

哈桑曾是美国陆军的一名精神科医生，2013 年 8 月，军事陪审团认定他在胡德堡枪击案中犯有 45 项预谋杀人和谋杀未遂罪，判处他死刑。

周一，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普授权对哈桑执行枪决。赫格塞斯周四表示，行刑将于12月3日下午1点（格林尼治标准时间19:00）在军事基地进行，与2009年枪决发生的时间相同。

美国参议院军事委员会首席民主党议员杰克·里德周五呼吁特朗普政府“重新考虑”这一决定，称这是“送给反美恐怖分子招募者的礼物”。

“直播死刑执行是一种野蛮的表演，”这位罗德岛州议员在一份声明中告诉半岛电视台。“这又是赫格塞斯部长为了转移人们对他任期内屡次失职的注意力而耍的伎俩，这些失职只会削弱我们的国家安全和国际地位。”

里德补充道：“这绝对是可耻的，并且损害了美国的利益和核心价值观。”

周四，当被问及赫格塞斯的决定时，他的民主党同僚、康涅狄格州参议员克里斯·墨菲在接受 CNN 采访时翻了个白眼，显得非常震惊。

“这太恶心了，”墨菲告诉CNN的艾琳·伯内特。“他是在模仿ISIS（伊斯兰国）的处决方式吗？我知道我们国家有死刑，但公开处决是中世纪的做法。”

但并非所有立法者都反对这一想法。

田纳西州共和党众议员安迪·奥格尔斯在社交媒体上表示，“这名恐怖分子就该被公开处决”，并称赫格塞斯的决定“非常棒”。

美国副总统万斯周五在回老家俄亥俄州访问期间告诉记者，他不会“观看”哈桑死亡的直播。

“我看到了这些公告。但我不知道这是否真的会发生，”曾在美国海军陆战队服役的万斯说。“让我们拭目以待……看看他什么时候会被处决。”

美国陆军对可以观看军事处决的人员有严格的规定。根据该军种颁布的条例，任何未满18岁的人都不得观看处决。受害者、其家属、囚犯的律师以及至少两名新闻媒体成员均属于获准观看的少数人员。

里德表示，要让哈桑的死刑“公开执行”，特朗普必须批准豁免。

当被问及特朗普是否会批准这项请求时，白宫让半岛电视台去问五角大楼。

美国联邦通信委员会（FCC）主席周五表示，他将听从五角大楼的指示，决定美国电视台是否可以播出死刑执行过程。FCC负责监管美国的广播通信。

“最终，我们将听从赫格塞斯部长的决定，以及他对于如何推进此事的决定，”联邦通信委员会主席布伦丹·卡尔在接受CNBC采访时表示。

国防部一位官员告诉半岛电视台，该机构“没有其他信息可以提供”。

联合国强烈谴责对哈桑处决进行直播的行为，并表示这将违反国际法。

联合国人权事务高级专员办事处发言人告诉法新社，直播处决“无异于公开处决，将违反绝对禁止酷刑的规定”。