Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that Nidal Hasan — the Army psychiatrist convicted in connection with the 2009 Fort Hood killings — is scheduled to be executed by military firing squad on December 3, with the proceedings to be broadcast live to the public.

Hegseth made the announcement during a broadcast on a right-leaning television network, appearing alongside commentator Jack Posobiec. He stated that the proceedings would be made available for public viewing on the grounds that those involved in such matters ought to understand that consequences follow from their actions. A news outlet traced the livestreaming plan back to Hegseth as its origin.

A presidential directive authorising the use of a firing squad as an execution method had been put into effect earlier that week, and a formal communiqué from the Pentagon subsequently placed the plans on the record.

The November 2009 attack at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center on the Fort Hood installation in Texas, carried out by Hasan — who had served as a psychiatrist in the U.S. Army — left 13 people dead and 32 others injured. Those killed had been service members in the final stages of preparation before deployment to Afghanistan. Hasan sustained wounds when police opened fire during the attack, resulting in lasting partial paralysis that left him unable to walk without assistance.

At his 2013 court-martial, where he chose to represent himself without defence counsel, a death sentence was handed down.

Records compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center — a nonprofit organisation tracking capital punishment across the country — show that no U.S. military service member has been put to death in over sixty years. Army Private John A. Bennett, convicted of rape and attempted murder, was executed in 1961, a date that stands as the last time the military carried out an execution. Any execution of Hasan would therefore be an uncommon occurrence in the armed forces' modern history.

Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, offered his reaction to the announcement while on air, at a point when a congressional delegation was conducting a regional visit. Murphy described having been turned away from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest American military installation in the Middle East. Unverified reports, attributed to one broadcast outlet, described drone strikes as having left the base with damage at some point during the conflict.

Murphy stated that news of the planned broadcast had not previously reached him. He described the behaviour as repellent and questioned what the person in question was attempting to imitate. Murphy characterised public executions as a relic of an earlier age and drew a comparison to conduct associated with terrorist groups. A broadcaster covering the proceedings noted that deploying an Army firing squad for a domestic execution would mark the first time such a method had been used since the Second World War, and that making the event viewable through a live stream would itself constitute an unprecedented step in the country's history.