President Donald Trump said Thursday that the execution of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooter will not be livestreamed.
After blaming former President Barack Obama for the attack by Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people and wounded dozens more, Trump said the planned livestream of Hasan’s execution would be canceled.
“With all of that being said, I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but, many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device,” Trump said in a rambling Truth Social post.
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” the post continued. “That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose. They deserve to witness JUSTICE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was downright giddy as he explained how Hasan would be killed by a firing squad at Fort Hood, and how the gruesome event would be livestreamed.
“And we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said, later adding, “We’ll see him on Dec. 3.”
The Pentagon later confirmed it had plans to stream the killing live, which Hegseth said would take place on the same day of the week and time that Hasan carried out his mass shooting.
But even Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, demurred at the idea.
“If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it,” Vance said.
Army Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, a survivor of the shooting, told BBC Radio 4’s Today last week that he didn’t agree with livestreaming the execution.
“To show the whole thing without it being censored for the general public, for me personally, I don’t agree with that, but it’s not about my personal belief,” Lunsford said.