Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the public will be able to watch the execution of the Fort Hood shooter by firing squad.
Why it matters: The U.S. hasn't held a public execution in 90 years, and Hegseth's remarks raise questions about how the military would allow people to watch.
- Nidal Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 shooting, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas.
What they're saying: Hegseth told Real America's Voice Thursday that Hasan is "gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be."
- "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."
The latest: The Pentagon says the execution will be livestreamed, AP reports, but did not name where specifically the stream will be hosted.
- The Pentagon currently posts speeches and videos on X and YouTube.
State of play: The Department of Defense declined to comment on Hegseth's remarks, leaving questions about how the public could watch the execution.
- The Army has not shared how it intends to conduct the execution, AP reports.
- It's unclear if Hegseth's remarks mean the execution will be open to public spectators, broadcast on streaming or TV, or made available to select individuals.
Zoom out: This would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961.
- The last U.S. military execution by firing squad was in 1945, when Pvt. Eddie Slovik was shot for desertion in France, according to NPR.
Firing-squad executions are rare in the U.S.
- Only Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah authorize the method, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
- Last year, South Carolina carried out the state's first firing squad execution — the first in the U.S. in 15 years.
- The last public execution in the U.S. was in 1936, when Rainey Bethea, a Black man convicted of raping a white woman, was hanged in Kentucky.