Fort Hood Shooter Execution Livestream: When Nidal Hasan Faces Firing Squad and Where To Watch

The US military is preparing to livestream the execution of Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in 2009, in what could become America's first publicly broadcast execution.

The former Army psychiatrist will face a firing squad at the same Texas military base where he carried out the massacre nearly 17 years ago, with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth deliberately choosing approximately the same time and location as the deadly attack.

The Pentagon confirmed the unprecedented broadcast plans on Thursday, 8 October, although questions remain over where the public will be able to watch.

Fort Hood Shooter Execution: Where To Watch

Hasan, 56, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, 3 December 2026, at 1pm Central Standard Time, at Fort Hood in Texas. The Pentagon confirmed that the firing squad execution would be livestreamed but has not announced which website, television network or streaming platform will carry the broadcast.

'It will be livestreamed. Details will follow,' a Pentagon official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Hegseth confirmed the plans on X and defended making the execution publicly accessible during an interview with Human Events Daily. He described scheduling the execution at approximately the same time, day of the week and location as the original shooting as a 'no-brainer.'

The Pentagon has not provided an official livestream link or further viewing instructions.

Why Nidal Hasan Faces Execution

On 5 November 2009, Hasan opened fire inside a military medical processing facility at Fort Hood, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others.

The Army psychiatrist was preparing for deployment to Afghanistan when he carried out the attack using a handgun fitted with laser sights.

Responding police officers shot Hasan, leaving him partially paralysed and dependent on a wheelchair.

In August 2013, a military jury convicted him of 45 counts involving premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder before sentencing him to death.

Under US military law, presidential approval is required before a military execution can proceed. President Donald Trump approved Hasan's execution by firing squad following Hegseth's recommendation, according to the Pentagon.

Historic Execution Livestream Raises Legal Questions

If carried out, Hasan's execution would mark the first US military execution since 1961 and the first military firing squad execution since 1945. The planned livestream would also represent an unprecedented departure from America's longstanding practice of restricting public access to executions.

The last legally sanctioned public execution in the United States occurred in 1936.

Military law expert Eugene Fidell, who lectures at Yale Law School, described the proposed broadcast as 'extremely, extremely strange.' Fidell said Hasan would need to pursue a federal lawsuit if he wanted to challenge the public display of his execution.

Military justice historian Jonathan Lurie also questioned the justification for broadcasting the event.

Firing Squad Execution Returns

The planned execution comes amid renewed scrutiny of capital punishment methods across the United States.

South Carolina resumed firing squad executions in 2025, carrying out the country's first such execution in 15 years.

The Trump administration has also expanded permissible federal execution methods to include firing squads, electrocution and gas asphyxiation.

The announcement follows a botched lethal injection involving Tennessee death-row inmate Christa Pike, who survived an execution attempt last week. Her lawyers said she remained hospitalised and seriously ill following the procedure.

At least five US states currently authorise firing squads as an execution method, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.