In an unprecedented move, the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nadal Malik Hassan will be livestreamed.
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Sean Parnell, Chief Spokesman for the Pentagon, announced the plans for the execution to be livestreamed in a statement on Thursday (October 9). He confirmed that United States President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth are both on board with the move. He said that "judgment day" has finally come for the mass shooter.
Fort Hood Shooter's Execution to Be Livestreamed
"Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended — and President Donald J. Trump has approved — death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009," Parnell said in a statement on Thursday caught by the Military Times.
Hassan was the mastermind who spearheaded the November 2009 Fort Hood shooting. A mass shooting that was carried out at the Fort Hood military post near Killeen, Texas. The shooting left 13 people dead and more than 30 others wounded.
So, naturally, the Pentagon's announcement led to a lot of mixed reactions on social media.
"We can all agree this PoS should be executed... But live-streaming an execution seems like a terrible idea," one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"He is a vicious bigot and a murderer, and there's an argument he deserves a public death for a very public crime. Yet there is a part of me that feels that public executions are barbaric and stoke the public's bloodlust," a second user chimed in.
"Bringing back public execution is good for society. It creates deterrence. Need to be 100% guilty with undeniable evidence," a third user remarked.
The Fort Hood shooter will be executed by way of a firing squad. A group of military personnel will simultaneously shoot and kill Hassan for his role in the 2009 killing spree.
It is unclear if he will try to appeal the decision. Stay tuned for more updates.
