The United States Department of Defense plans to livestream the scheduled execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former US Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas.
The Pentagon confirmed the plan on Thursday, October 8, 2026, a day after Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be conducted publicly. The execution is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, subject to any further legal proceedings.
The US Army announced on October 7 that acting Army Secretary Adam Telle had set the execution date following President Donald Trump’s approval of Hasan’s death sentence on October 2. The Army said the execution would take place at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time by firing squad.
The planned livestream marks an unusual development in the administration of military capital punishment in the United States. Pentagon officials said further details about the broadcast would be provided later, but had not publicly outlined how it would be distributed or who would be permitted to watch it.
Hegseth discussed the execution during an interview with Real America’s Voice, saying the public would be able to watch it. He argued that people should understand the consequences of serious crimes. His comments preceded the Pentagon’s explicit confirmation that the execution would be livestreamed.
Hasan was convicted by a military court-martial for the November 5, 2009, shooting at Fort Hood, then one of the largest US Army installations. He opened fire inside a medical processing facility where soldiers were preparing for deployment, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others.
The attack shocked the US military and prompted scrutiny of how warning signs about Hasan had been handled before the shooting. Hasan, who was serving as an Army major and psychiatrist at the time, was found guilty of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in August 2013. A military jury sentenced him to death later that month.
The case has remained within the military justice system for more than a decade. According to the Army, the US Supreme Court declined to review Hasan’s court-martial conviction in March 2025. Trump approved the death sentence after the military appellate process had concluded, and the Army subsequently selected an execution date in accordance with military regulations.
However, the scheduled date does not necessarily mean the execution will proceed as planned. Legal experts cited by the Associated Press said Hasan could seek further review in civilian federal courts, potentially delaying the execution.
The livestream proposal has raised questions about transparency, public access and the treatment of people facing execution. Some legal experts say public viewing could make the realities of capital punishment more visible, while others have questioned the legal and ethical implications of broadcasting a state execution.
The issue is particularly sensitive because the United States has largely moved away from public executions. The last widely recognised public execution in the country took place in 1936, while the last US military execution occurred in 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was executed by hanging at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Hasan’s planned execution by firing squad would also mark the first US military execution in more than 65 years if it proceeds on the scheduled date. The Army said the method and timing were determined under the military’s execution regulations.
The case has also drawn attention to Hasan’s access to legal representation following notification that Trump had approved his sentence. A former lawyer who spoke with Hasan raised concerns about the circumstances of the notification, while an Army spokesperson said officials had made reasonable efforts to contact defence counsel and had followed applicable procedures.
The Pentagon has not yet released full details of the planned broadcast. It also remains unclear whether the livestream will be available through an official government website or another platform, and whether restrictions will apply to viewers.
For now, the December 3 date remains the Army’s announced schedule, with any further legal action potentially affecting the timetable. The planned livestream has added a new dimension to a case that has been closely followed since the Fort Hood attack, bringing renewed attention to the US military death penalty and the question of how executions should be made public.