Vice President JD Vance has questioned whether the Pentagon will proceed with its controversial plan to livestream the execution of Fort Hood gunman Nidal Malik Hasan.
Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas, on 3 December. He was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others during a mass shooting at the military base in 2009.
The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that it planned to broadcast the execution online, potentially making it the first US military execution livestreamed for the public.
JUST IN: The Pentagon confirms the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told @JackPosobiec that the execution would be public.
It will be the first U.S. public execution in 90 years.
In 2009, Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 others at Fort Hood as he shouted “Allahu Akbar” and opened fire.
The Associated Press reports that the execution will be livestreamed.
Hasan will be executed by firing squad on December 3rd at Fort Hood, the same place where he carried out the attack.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 8, 2026
However, speaking to reporters on Friday, Vance suggested that the unprecedented broadcast might not go ahead.
“I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” he said when asked about the Pentagon’s announcement.
Vance says he will not watch execution
Vance attempted to move the discussion away from the proposed livestream and towards Hasan’s crimes.
“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,” the vice president said.
Asked whether he would watch the execution if it were broadcast, Vance replied: “If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”
His comments marked the first public indication from a senior member of President Donald Trump’s administration that the livestreaming plan may not be settled.
Pentagon confirmed public broadcast
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said the execution should be public so that people could witness the consequences of Hasan’s actions.
“He’s going to get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be,” Hegseth said. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it.”
A Pentagon official subsequently confirmed that the execution would be livestreamed, although the department has not released details explaining where or how the broadcast would be made available.
The proposal has attracted criticism from religious leaders, politicians and human-rights campaigners.
Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, described the planned broadcast as a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death” and called for it to be reconsidered.
Trump approved firing-squad execution
Trump authorised Hasan’s execution after a recommendation from Hegseth.
“He will be killed. He will be, through firing squad,” Trump told reporters. “I really don’t care how he goes, as long as he goes.”
The president has not directly said whether he supports broadcasting the execution or whether he would watch it.
Hasan was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. During his court martial, he acknowledged being the gunman and said he had acted to prevent American soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan.
First US military execution since 1961
If it proceeds, Hasan’s execution would be the first carried out by the US military since Army Private John Bennett was hanged in 1961.
It would also be the military’s first execution by firing squad since the aftermath of the Second World War.
The scheduled date is not necessarily final. Hasan could seek relief through a habeas corpus petition in the civilian federal courts, potentially delaying the execution while further legal proceedings take place.
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