Hegseth says that the execution of a military prisoner in the US will be "public"

WashingtonSecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ensured that Nidal Hasan's military execution by firing squad will be "public" and carried out by the very "soldiers" of Fort Hood. "We will make sure people can see it. That it is public. Because people need to understand the consequences of these types of things," the Pentagon chief stated on the Real America's Voice podcast. The execution is scheduled for next December 3rd.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump, approved the military execution by firing squad for Hasan, a former military psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded 32 during a shooting at the Fort Hood military base, Texas, in 2009. It is the first time since at least 1945 that a military execution has been carried out under these conditions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center group. The last time the army executed a soldier, however, was in the early 60s, when soldier John A. Bennet was hanged.

The decision to make it public and provide a kind of lesson to the rest of the military comes amidst the climate of fear that has been established at the Pentagon following the purge applied by Hegseth. Numerous generals in key positions have been dismissed or forced to resign, and a replacement has not yet been found. Likewise, the Secretary of Defense announced last week that he was reducing the U.S. Army's generals and admirals by 20% amidst the problems it is facing in filling vacancies in critical leadership positions. All this, amidst Washington's stalemate in the war against Iran.

For the moment, the Department of Defense has not yet commented on Hegseth's words nor has it revealed how it plans to execute Hasan. The man was sentenced to death in 2013 by a military court and has been awaiting the final sentence since then. Within military jurisdiction, it is the U.S. President, who is also the "commander-in-chief," who has the final say on the method to be applied.

Although rare, executions by firing squad are still legal in five states: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah. Last year, South Carolina executed a prisoner by firing squad for the first time in the U.S. in 15 years.

Trump and his administration have been openly favorable to the death penalty and, in fact, the US president has repeatedly shown himself to be in favor of expanding its application. Last year the Department of Justice (by then already controlled by Todd Blanche, the tycoon's former lawyer) published a report in which it considered that the United States should bring back firing squads as methods of execution for the most serious federal crimes. The document also proposed the use of other practices, such as gas asphyxiation.