President Donald Trump has reversed course on plans to broadcast the upcoming execution of former military psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, canceling a live video stream that had drawn intense domestic and international backlash.
Hasan is scheduled to be put to death by firing squad on December 3, 2026, marking the first time the United States military has carried out an execution in more than sixty years. The Pentagon initially announced that the event would be aired publicly online, a proposal defended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a strong warning against severe crimes.
However, the streaming proposal immediately sparked widespread condemnation from human rights organizations, legal experts, and international bodies, including the United Nations, which labeled the broadcast plans abhorrent. Public executions remain exceedingly rare worldwide, with only a small number of nations, such as Iran and Afghanistan, carrying them out in recent years.
Addressing the reversal, Trump stated that while he initially believed a public broadcast would serve as a powerful deterrent against terrorism, feedback from numerous thoughtful individuals indicated that many preferred not to witness the event. He emphasized that the execution will still proceed as planned by firing squad, though the proceedings will remain private rather than broadcast for global viewing.
While the broadcast has been scrapped, the families of the victims will still be permitted to observe the execution in person if they choose to do so. Hasan was convicted for a 2009 mass shooting at a Texas military base where thirteen unarmed service members were killed and thirty-two others were injured in a crowded medical processing building.
During his 2013 court-martial, Hasan confessed to the shootings, asserting at the time that he acted to defend the Taliban and Muslims abroad from American military operations. The tragedy remains the deadliest non-combat attack in the history of United States military installations.
Legal representatives for Hasan noted that the condemned inmate is paralyzed from the chest down, a factor they claimed administration officials had initially overlooked when discussing the broadcast. Military executions require presidential authorization alongside a thorough appellate review to verify the legal integrity of the sentence before it can be carried out.
Reporting based on coverage first published by BBC News. Read the original report at BBC News.
