Vance calls into question that the military execution is broadcast via streaming: "If it is done, I will not watch it"
Hegseth had said that American soldiers would "publicly" execute by firing squad Nidal Hasan to teach society a lesson
WashingtonTensions at the White House over the broadcast of the military execution that the Pentagon wants to carry out on December 3rd. Vice President J.D. Vance has cast doubt on whether Nidal Hasan will be publicly executed by a firing squad after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced it on Thursday. "I'm not sure what will actually happen," Vance told reporters. "If it is actually broadcast live, I don't plan on watching it."
Hegseth announced on Thursday that the prisoner would be executed at the military base in Fort Hood, Texas, where he committed a shooting in 2009. Hasan, an American Muslim who was working as an army psychiatrist at the time, opened fire shouting "Allahu-akbar" (God is the greatest), killed 13 people and left 32 wounded.
"We will ensure that 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 Thursday on the podcast Real America's Voice. 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.
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 perform these types of public executions are Iran and Afghanistan.
"We haven't done this since World War II," Hegseth said Thursday, explaining that the execution was an "obvious decision." "It's the type of mentality we had during World War II and that led us to victory. It was about understanding that when the enemy attacks you, you stay on the ground." It is not the first time the Secretary of Defense has expressed his obsession with this supposed "warrior" mentality.
Last year, Hegseth gathered all the high-ranking army 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" people in their ranks. In July he also announced testosterone tests for soldiers over thirty years old. All to guarantee a "good biological base" and for troops to be at the "vanguard of lethality."
Another warning to sailors
The decision to publicly broadcast the execution and to lecture the rest of the military comes amidst 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 to the military by the White House in a context in which 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% amidst the problems it faces 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 tribunal and has since been pending the final sentence. Within military jurisdiction, it is the American 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 US in fifteen years.
Trump and his government have been openly favorable to the death penalty and, in fact, the American 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 methods of execution for the most serious federal crimes. The document also proposed the use of other practices, such as gas asphyxiation.