WASHINGTON: The execution by firing squad of convicted military base shooter Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed, a Pentagon official said, drawing sharp condemnation Friday of the plan to broadcast the killing.

Hasan’s execution, set for Dec 3, is poised to be the first that the US military has carried out by firing squad since World War II.

“It will be livestreamed. Details will follow,” the Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP of the death sentence imposed on the US Army psychiatrist who shot dead 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said in a video posted on X on Thursday that Hasan is “going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public”.

“People need to understand that... there’s serious consequence for these types of things,” Hegseth told right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec.

Outrage

The UN has condemned the plan to livestream the execution, saying it would amount to torture.

“The livestreaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a message.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2026