The execution of a man who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, is to be livestreamed in the US.
Nidal Hasan, a former US army psychiatrist, is to be executed by the army's firing squad on December 3, becoming the first person to meet this fate at the hands of the US military since 1945. It will take place at the same Texas base where he had shot 13 people with a laser sighted handgun in a medical facility.
It took place just weeks before he was to be deployed to Afghanistan.
This also comes amid heightened tension in the US over the death penalty, following the recent failed execution by injection of Tennessee woman, Christa Pike last week.
News of the livestreaming of the US military firing squad's execution was confirmed by a Pentagon official who said to Reuters: "It will be livestreamed. Details will follow".
It was also confirmed by US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, via a post on his official X account.
Correct.
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) October 8, 2026
Public executions have become very rare worldwide, with experts saying that no other internationally recognised state has been known to televise or livestream a legal execution.
Such countries which have conducted such executions in recent years, including Iran and Taliban run Afghanistan, while the last person to be executed in Ireland was Michael Manning in 1954, before the death penalty for all crimes was scrapped in 1964, except for capital murder. It was completely abolished in 1990.
Speaking to the Human Events Daily Programme, Pete Hegseth said that the decision to execute Nidal Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood on a Thursday at 1pm, approximate time, day of the week and location of the 2009 shootings was a "no brainer".
He said: "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".
When asked if Hasan had made any final request, Defence Secretary Hegseth said: "Don't care", while adding: "We'll see him on 3 December".
Nidal Hasan was sentenced to death by a military jury in August 2013, having found him guilty on 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder.
Mr Hasan, now 56, was left partially paralysed and confined to a wheelchair after he was shot by police during his arrest.
According to US military, any execution by firing squad must be approved by the US President, and Mr Trump did so on the recommendation of Mr Hegseth. The White House have declined to comment on whether Mr Trump approved of the livestreaming or not, referring the questions to the Pentagon.
Speaking about this, Eugene Fidell, a lawyer, author and expert in military law, and lectures at Yale Law School, said that "It would be extremely, extremely strange" to livestream this event.
He added that firing squad have a long history in US military law, and as far as he is aware, livestreaming or televising this event would be unprecedented, and than Hasan would need to sue the federal court if he wanted a public display of his execution to be blocked.
"The Supreme Court has never addressed this question and it's an interesting question whether the current Supreme Court would put on their originalist hat and say 'Well, it was OK in 1790, so what the hell?'", he said.
Meanwhile, author and historian of military justice, Jonathan Lurie said that there are no logical reasons for publicising this execution.
"What's the point of it? Who would want to see that?", he said.
According to the group, Death Penalty Action, who oppose capital punishment, have said that Hasan's execution would be the first military execution since 1961. (All quotes in this piece according to RTÉ).
