Army caught off guard by Hegseth’s order to make firing squad execution public

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the execution of the convicted Fort Hood mass shooter would be shown in public caught people across the Pentagon and the Army off guard, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Hegseth made the announcement in an interview with far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday, which he’d visited to give a speech to the crew welcoming them home from their deployment to the Middle East.

“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 said during the interview.

That comment was the first time many in the Army and Pentagon heard about the idea of a firing squad’s execution of Nidal Hasan in Texas being made public, and there were immediately questions about what “public” would mean. There are Army regulations about who can watch a military execution, including family of the prisoner and of the victims, media representatives and a chaplain.

But it was decided by Hegseth, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell and his staff that “public” would mean it would be livestreamed, one source familiar said. The Pentagon then confirmed as much to the media, saying in a statement, “The Secretary is correct. It will be livestreamed. Details will follow.”

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Hegseth wants America to watch a firing squad execution. It’s drawing backlash

The Army referred questions to the Pentagon, and a Pentagon spokesperson said they had nothing to add beyond Thursday’s confirmation that it would be live-streamed.

The idea has shocked many service members and veterans and provoked a bipartisan backlash . Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on Friday that the livestream could ultimately go forward, saying he didn’t know “if that’s actually going to happen,” but said if it was, “I’m not going to be watching it.”

“It takes away everything America stands for when we do public executions,” one Army officer with multiple deployments to the Middle East told CNN. “The generational harm caused by allowing troops in uniform to stand in front of a man in a wheelchair and watch him get shot to death is irreparable.”

President Donald Trump welcomed the idea of a firing squad execution on Friday.

“We’re giving a man the death penalty who killed 14 soldiers a couple of years ago. Death penalty through firing squad — and he deserves it,” the president said to applause during a White House event honoring Christopher Columbus.

Trump told CNN-affiliate WSTM on Friday he was not involved in the decision to livestream the execution, adding, “but I understand the decision.”

Asked about the livestream by reporters at the White House earlier Friday, the president said his administration would make a determination about it, while reiterating that Hasan will be killed and “through firing squad.” He didn’t answer when a reporter asked if he’d watch the livestream.

FCC chair Brendan Carr told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” it was his understanding that the execution would not be shown on broadcast TV – but that he would defer to Hegseth and “his decisions on how to move forward.”

Many of the details around the livestream have yet to be finalized, and multiple sources told CNN that officials have been working to find answers since it was announced. A second source familiar told CNN that great care is being taken to determine which soldiers would fire on Hasan, taking into consideration the potential psychological impacts of doing so. A specific unit has been selected to carry out the execution, the source said.

Showing the execution on a livestream presents more challenges, the source said, including any effort to obscure from the public the identities of the soldiers involved. It’s also unclear where and if the execution will be streamed beyond the Pentagon’s own website. Broadcasters and social media platforms have strict restrictions on violent and disturbing content.

The first source familiar said there are still questions about whether soldiers can decline to participate, given that the military is moving forward with this as a legal order.

The second source familiar echoed the same, saying while many soldiers may have “taken a life in combat,” this is a very different situation.

“This is a situation where the guy has done a very bad thing and hurt a lot of people, years removed,” the second source said. “He’s going to be immobile and put up like a target.”

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据三位知情人士向 CNN 透露，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯宣布将公开处决被定罪的胡德堡大规模枪击案凶手，这一消息令五角大楼和陆军上下措手不及。

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·波索比克的采访时宣布了这一消息。此前，他曾到访该舰，并发表讲话欢迎船员们结束在中东的部署回家。

“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，”赫格塞斯在采访中说道。

这条评论是陆军和五角大楼许多人第一次听说将在德克萨斯州对尼达尔·哈桑执行枪决的想法被公开，人们立即质疑“公开”究竟意味着什么。陆军有规定，允许哪些人观看军事处决，包括囚犯和受害者的家属、媒体代表以及随军牧师。

但据一位知情人士透露，陆军部长赫格塞斯、代理陆军部长亚当·特勒、五角大楼发言人肖恩·帕内尔及其幕僚一致认为，“公开”就意味着会进行直播。随后，五角大楼在一份声明中向媒体证实了这一点，声明称：“部长说得没错。会进行直播。详情稍后公布。”

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赫格塞斯希望美国民众观看枪决。此举引发了强烈反弹。

陆军方面将相关问题转给了五角大楼，五角大楼发言人表示，除了周四确认将进行直播之外，他们没有其他补充。

这一想法令许多现役军人和退伍军人感到震惊，并引发了跨党派的强烈反对。副总统万斯周五表示怀疑直播最终能否进行，他说他不知道“这是否真的会发生”，但如果真的发生了，“我是不会看的”。

一位曾多次被派往中东的陆军军官告诉CNN：“公开处决死刑违背了美国的一切价值观。允许身穿制服的士兵站在一个坐在轮椅上的人面前，眼睁睁地看着他被枪杀，这种行为造成的代际伤害是无法弥补的。”

周五，唐纳德·特朗普总统对枪决处决的想法表示欢迎。

“我们要判处一个几年前杀害了14名士兵的人死刑。行刑方式是枪决——他罪有应得，”总统在白宫举行的纪念克里斯托弗·哥伦布的活动上说道，赢得了掌声。

特朗普周五告诉 CNN 附属电视台 WSTM，他没有参与决定直播死刑执行，并补充说，“但我理解这个决定。”

周五早些时候，记者在白宫就直播一事询问总统，总统表示政府将对此作出决定，同时重申哈桑将被处决，“以枪决的方式”。当记者问他是否会观看直播时，他没有回答。

美国联邦通信委员会主席布伦丹·卡尔在接受CNBC“Squawk on the Street”节目采访时表示，据他了解，死刑执行过程不会在电视广播中播出——但他会尊重赫格塞斯的决定，以及“他关于如何推进此事的决定”。

关于此次直播的许多细节尚未最终确定，多位消息人士告诉CNN，自宣布以来，官员们一直在努力寻找答案。另一位知情人士告诉CNN，当局正在非常谨慎地决定由哪些士兵向哈桑开枪，并考虑到此举可能造成的心理影响。该消息人士称，已选定一个特定部队执行处决。

消息人士称，直播处决会带来更多挑战，包括如何向公众隐瞒涉案士兵的身份。此外，目前尚不清楚除了五角大楼官网之外，处决过程是否会在其他平台直播，以及直播地点会在哪里。广播公司和社交媒体平台对暴力和令人不安的内容都有严格的限制。

第一位知情人士表示，鉴于军方正在以法律命令的形式推进此事，士兵是否可以拒绝参加仍然存在疑问。

第二位知情人士也表达了同样的观点，称虽然很多士兵可能“在战斗中夺走了生命”，但这与之前的情况截然不同。

“这个人做了件非常糟糕的事，伤害了很多人，虽然已经过去很多年了，”第二个消息人士说。“他现在行动不便，就像个活靶子一样。”