Trump Cancels Livestream of Fort Hood Shooter’s Scheduled Execution

United States President Donald Trump has cancelled plans to livestream the scheduled execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

Trump announced the decision on Thursday, October 15, following widespread criticism of the Pentagon’s proposal to broadcast Hasan’s death by firing squad. The execution itself has not been cancelled and remains scheduled for December 3, subject to any legal developments.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had initially viewed a public broadcast as a possible deterrent but acknowledged that many people would prefer not to watch an execution. He added that the event would not be streamed and said victims’ immediate families would be allowed to attend in person if they wished.

The original proposal was announced by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who argued that broadcasting the execution would demonstrate the consequences of attacks against members of the US military. The plan drew objections from both Republicans and Democrats, as well as religious leaders and human rights advocates.

Vice President JD Vance expressed reservations about watching the execution, while House Speaker Mike Johnson warned that a public broadcast could potentially become propaganda or a recruitment tool for extremists. Catholic leaders also criticised the proposal on moral grounds.

The reversal marks a notable change in the administration’s position on the broadcast. However, the Pentagon said Hegseth supported the president’s decision and that the two officials remained aligned.

Hasan, a former US Army major, was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder over the November 5, 2009, attack at the military installation then known as Fort Hood. He was wounded by responding officers and left paralysed from the waist down.

His planned execution by firing squad would be the US military’s first execution since 1961 and its first by firing squad since the Second World War, according to reports.

The debate over the proposed livestream has also revived wider questions about capital punishment, public access to executions and the limits of using death as a deterrent. Critics argued that broadcasting an execution could undermine human dignity, expose viewers to disturbing material and risk turning the event into extremist propaganda.

The decision to cancel the broadcast does not resolve the legal questions surrounding Hasan’s execution. Further court proceedings could affect the scheduled date, and the military has not announced a replacement date.

For now, the administration’s position is that the execution will proceed as scheduled, but the public will not be able to watch it live.