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

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

On Tuesday, US 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 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 sixties, when John A. Bennett was hanged. The only countries that still conduct these types of public executions are Iran and Afghanistan.

"Not since the Second World War have we done this," Hegseth said Thursday, explaining that the firing squad was an "obvious decision." "It is the type of mentality we had during the Second World War and that led us to victory. It was about understanding that, when the enemy attacks you, you stay on the field." It is not the first time that the Secretary of Defense has expressed his obsession with this supposed "warrior" mentality.

Last year, Hegseth gathered all the high-ranking military officials at Quantico to warn them that he would restore the "warrior ethos" to the army and accused them of having allowed the existence of "fat" and "bearded" individuals in their ranks. In the month of July he also announced testosterone tests for soldiers over thirty years old. All to guarantee a "good biological base" and for the troops to be at the "vanguard of lethality".

Another warning to those concerned

The decision to publicly broadcast the execution and to lecture the rest of the military comes amid the climate of fear that has been established at the Pentagon following the purge carried out by Hegseth. Numerous generals in key positions have been dismissed or forced to resign, and a replacement has not yet been found. It is inevitable to see the broadcast of the execution as a warning from the White House in a context where the administration wants to tighten its grip on the army.

The Secretary of Defense announced last week that he was reducing the number of generals and admirals in the United States military by 20% amid the problems he is facing in filling vacancies in critical leadership positions. All this is happening while Washington is stalling in the war against Iran.

Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 by a military court and has since been awaiting the final sentence. 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 infrequent, 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 fifteen years.

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