Critics compared Pentagon proposal to dictatorships in Iran and Afghanistan
President Donald Trump shelved the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, a disabled man convicted of killing 13 people at a military base at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. The proposal had drawn sweeping criticism and comparisons to dictatorships in Iran and Afghanistan after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the previous week that it would “make sure” people were able to watch.
In a post on his Truth Social platform Thursday, Trump argued that broadcasting the execution “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan.” He acknowledged, however, that “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” Trump wrote.