A handful of Republicans joined Democrats on Friday in criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream the execution of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. Representative Austin Scott of Georgia wrote that "live-streaming executions is what jihadists do," while Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina called the decision "beyond disgusting," likening it to the practices of oppressive dictatorships.
The Pentagon has said the execution will take place on Dec. 3 by firing squad, the military's first since World War II and its first execution by any method since 1961. The timing is politically fraught for congressional Republicans, who are fighting to preserve narrow majorities weeks before the midterm elections amid voter discontent over the war with Iran and a series of controversies involving Mr. Hegseth.
Representative Rob Bresnahan Jr. of Pennsylvania said an execution "shouldn't be a live-streamed spectacle," and Senator John Curtis of Utah warned that turning executions into public events risked corrupting society. Vice President JD Vance said he was unsure the broadcast would happen and that he would not watch it if it were streamed.
Mr. Hasan was convicted and sentenced to death in 2013, and President Trump approved the execution this week. Mr. Hegseth defended the public nature of the execution in an interview with Real America's Voice, saying "people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things."
Democrats condemned the move. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, accused Mr. Hegseth of staging a publicity stunt that would grant Mr. Hasan the martyrdom he sought, calling livestreaming an execution "a barbaric spectacle."
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing