WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has confirmed plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former US Army major convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas.
Hasan is scheduled to face a military firing squad on December 3 at the same military base where he carried out the attack. Officials have not yet announced the exact timing of the broadcast or viewing arrangements.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed the planned execution in an interview with Real America’s Voice on Wednesday, October 7, saying the public could witness the punishment.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said.
Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests or contacted the Trump administration, Hegseth dismissed the question and referred to the scheduled execution date.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell had earlier confirmed that President Donald Trump approved the execution.
Hasan, who served as an Army psychiatrist with the rank of major, opened fire inside a medical facility at Fort Hood in 2009.
Read:US: Trump Approves Nidal Hasan Execution By Firing Squad
Soldiers were waiting for vaccinations and medical clearance before deployment when he entered the building carrying a laser-sighted handgun and began shooting.
A military jury sentenced Hasan to death in August 2013 after convicting him of murder and attempted murder.
The planned execution would be the first carried out by the US military in more than six decades. Military authorities have not executed a service member by firing squad since the Second World War.
The last US military execution occurred on April 13, 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was put to death by hanging.
With additional input from Associated Press
