Pete Hegseth branded ‘deeply unwell’ as GOP and Dem critics pile on over livestream execution: ‘Obscene medieval spectacle’

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.

Pete Hegseth has drawn intense criticism and calls for him to be removed as Defense Secretary after announcing that Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution by firing squad would be “made public.”

A slew of Democrats and at least two Republicans have condemned the prospect of live-streaming the death, calling it “medieval,” “disgusting” and reminiscent of a dictatorship.

Hegseth told conservative outlet Real America’s Voice Thursday that Americans would be able to watch the execution of Hasan, an Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others at the Texas Army base in 2009.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public because people need to understand there are serious consequences for these types of things,” the secretary said. The Pentagon later confirmed to The Independent that the execution, scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, would be live-streamed and that more details would be provided soon.

While many lawmakers said Hasan should indeed face his capital sentence, they condemned the prospect of broadcasting his state-sanctioned killing, casting it as barbaric.

“Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting,” Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, wrote on X. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”

“I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do,” Rep. Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican, posted on X. “America is better than that.”

Numerous Democrats voiced similar objections. “I mean, that’s disgusting,” Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told CNN. “What is he mimicking? ISIS executions.”

Senator John Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, sharply criticized Hegseth and described the idea of a live streamed execution as an “obscene medieval spectacle.” In an interview with MS NOW, he called Hegseth a “deeply unwell person who seems to relish this kind of brutality.”

“There is no doubt that Nidal Hasan is a murderer who took the lives of 13 people and injured dozens,” Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, wrote on social media. “He should face justice for that. But a public execution? Here in the United States? It’s the kind of thing Iran and the Taliban do. Is this who we want to be associated with?”

Kelly, a retired Navy Captain, also called on the defense secretary to be “removed immediately.”

Some Republicans have applauded Hegseth’s decision. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles wrote on X: “Excellent. Public execution is what this terrorist deserves. We will be watching.”

The Independent has contacted the Pentagon for comment.

On Thursday, Hegseth said the U.S. military had not executed a service member by firing squad since World War II. “I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was [to] win,” the defense secretary said.

The last person executed by a U.S. military firing squad was Army Private Eddie Slovik, who faced 12 riflemen from his own unit on January 31, 1945.

Hegseth recommended that Hasan be executed by firing squad, and President Donald Trump approved the request earlier this month. The defense secretary called the decision a “no brainer.”

When asked on Thursday if Hasan, 56, had made any final requests, Hegseth said: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3.”

Hasan, an Army major who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in 2009, was convicted by a military jury of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He was sentenced to death in 2013.

He admitted to carrying out the shooting, which left him partially paralyzed after police shot him. He now uses a wheelchair.

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in