The Pentagon has confirmed that the execution of former US Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed, after Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the public should be able to watch the killing at Fort Hood, Texas.
Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad at 1pm local time on Thursday, December 3, 2026 — at the military base where he was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in 2009.
The announcement makes the case the first US military execution in more than 65 years. The Army has not used a firing squad to carry out an execution since the Second World War.
Execution will be livestreamed
Speaking to the conservative broadcaster Real America’s Voice, Mr Hegseth said the sentence would be carried out by soldiers using rifles and would take place at the same time of day as Hasan’s attack.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things,” he said.
A Pentagon official later confirmed to the Associated Press that the execution would be livestreamed in December. Officials have not said where the broadcast will be hosted.
Mr Hegseth said the decision to hold the execution at Fort Hood reflected the location of the 2009 attack. He described Hasan as an Army major who had betrayed his country and carried out a radical Islamist assault against fellow Americans.
President Donald Trump approved the death sentence on October 2, following a recommendation from Mr Hegseth. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle formally directed the execution on October 6.
The Army said Hasan’s conviction and sentence had completed the military appeals process. The US Supreme Court rejected his request for review on March 31, 2025.
Hasan was convicted by a court-martial in 2013 of all 42 charges arising from the shooting at a medical processing centre, where troops were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. He was sentenced to death five days later.
Prosecutors said he had become radicalised and opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the trial, Hasan said he had been trying to prevent soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan.
If carried out as planned, the execution will be the US military’s first since 1961 and the Army’s first execution of a soldier since the Second World War.
