'I am not going to be watching it': JD Vance on livestream of Nidal Hasan's firing squad execution

US Vice President JD Vance has expressed doubts about whether the Pentagon will proceed with plans to publicly livestream the December execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the gunman responsible for the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas. Speaking on Friday, Vance questioned whether the proposed broadcast would actually take place, despite Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s earlier remarks suggesting that the public would be able to watch the execution. “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.”

Vance also suggested that he would not watch the execution if it were broadcast publicly. “Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.” The vice president sought to shift attention away from the controversy over the proposed broadcast, stressing the severity of Hasan’s crimes. The 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, a US military installation in Texas, killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. “So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Vance remarked.

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What is a firing squad execution?

A firing squad execution is a method of capital punishment in which a group of shooters fires at a condemned person. The method has historically been used in military justice systems, including by the US military. Hegseth said he would arrange for a firing squad of soldiers, according to USA Today. Reuters has reported that the US Army historically carried out executions for military offences, including desertion. Hundreds of soldiers were sentenced to death during the American Civil War. The last US military member executed by firing squad was Pvt Eddie Slovik, who was put to death for desertion on January 31, 1945, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Will Nidal Hasan’s execution be livestreamed?

The question of whether Hasan’s execution will be broadcast publicly remains unresolved. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that no decision had been made on whether to publicly broadcast the execution, according to AFP. His remarks appeared to differ from Hegseth’s earlier comments indicating that the public would be able to watch. On October 8, Hegseth said in an interview with Real America’s Voice that the execution would be made accessible to the public. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said in an interview with Real America’s Voice. “Because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things.”

The proposal has raised questions about the legal and ethical implications of publicly broadcasting an execution. According to USA Today, there is no known record of a government livestreaming an execution. The Death Penalty Information Center also said it could not identify a previous instance of an execution being livestreamed. “We have no record of any execution being livestreamed,” the center’s executive director, Robin Maher, told USA Today.