Trump cancels livestream of Fort Hood shooter’s execution

President Donald Trump announced Oct. 15 that he has canceled the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the Dec. 3 execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, a proposed broadcast condemned by U.S. Catholic bishops.

Hasan, a former Army major, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting, as Zeale News previously reported. Hasan has been on death row since 2013, when a military jury convicted him and sentenced him to death.

In a Truth Social post announcing the cancellation of the livestream, Trump wrote, “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. He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.”

“That said, the execution may be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they so choose,” he added. “They deserve to witness JUSTICE!” 

As Zeale News previously reported, War Secretary Pete Hegseth had announced the plan to publicly broadcast Hasan’s execution by firing squad in an Oct. 8 interview. The U.S. military has not executed a prisoner since 1961 or carried out an execution by firing squad since 1945.

The plan to livestream the execution sparked backlash among a number of politicians, faith leaders, and many others. Amid the widespread criticism, Trump had reportedly expressed “misgivings” about the livestream plan and was rethinking it. An Oct. 12 Axios report cited a source who said the President “didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic” about the plan, as Zeale News previously reported.

Among the Catholic leaders who spoke out against the plan was Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who condemned it in an Oct. 9 statement.

Archbishop Coakley expressed “shock and great sorrow” over the announcement and warned of its consequences for the nation’s moral life.

“In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned, but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,” the archbishop said.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, also criticized the proposed broadcast. In an Oct. 12 statement, he said any Catholics assigned to the firing squad were obliged to request to be excused from carrying out the execution, as Zeale News previously reported.

“Do we really want to imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries?” he asked. “The crime committed by Nidal Malik Hasan was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?”

A quote from Pope Leo XIV about capital punishment was highlighted in an X post on his account on Oct. 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty.  

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” his statement read. “The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.