Trump cancels the live broadcast of the execution by firing squad

WashingtonDonald Trump announced this Thursday that the Pentagon will not live-stream the firing squad execution of former military psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people in a 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the execution, scheduled for December 3, would be live-streamed online to teach a lesson.

"We will ensure people can see it. That it is public. Because people need to understand the consequences that these types of things have," the Pentagon chief stated last Thursday on the podcast Real America's voice. Previously, the U.S. president had approved the military firing squad execution for Hasan. The announcement sparked significant social backlash, and even Vice President J.D. Vance questioned whether it would actually be carried out publicly.

This is the first time since 1945 that a military execution has been carried out under these conditions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. However, the last time the army executed a soldier was in the early sixties, when John A. Bennett was hanged. The only countries that still carry out these types of public executions are Iran and Afghanistan.

Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 by a military tribunal 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 rarely used, firing squad executions 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 openly declared themselves in favor of the death penalty, and in fact, the U.S. president has repeatedly shown support for expanding its application. Last year, the Department of Justice—then already controlled by Todd Blanche, a former Trump 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.

Another warning for sailors

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

Last year, Hegseth gathered all the high-ranking officers of the army at the Quantico base to warn them that he would restore the "warrior ethos" to the army and accuse 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 older than thirty years old. All, to guarantee a "good biological base" and for the troops to be at the "vanguard of lethality".

The Secretary of Defense announced last week that he was reducing the army's generals and admirals by 20%, amidst the problems he is having filling vacancies in critical leadership positions. All of this is happening while Washington is stalling in the war against Iran.