Daughter of Fort Hood victim blasts Hegseth’s plan to livestream execution

DAILYMAIL.COM • 3h ago

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER 04:02 13 Oct 2026, updated 04:48 13 Oct 2026

The daughter of one of the 13 victims of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan has criticized the Trump administration’s decision to livestream the public execution of the wheelchair-bound killer.

Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that Donald Trump had approved his proposal to publicly execute Hasan by firing squad in a live broadcast. Hasan has been sentenced to death for the 2009 shooting.

Keely Cahill Vanacker’s father Michael Cahill was one of the 13 victims shot to death by Hasan. She spoke out against Hegseth’s plan on CNN Monday.

‘I think that is absolutely the worst thing that you can do. I think this has nothing to do with justice,’ she said.

Vanacker said she learned her father’s killer would be put to death in the public square from her son, who himself had found out from an Instagram reel.

‘This is becoming a tragedy turning into entertainment. And I can’t imagine with social media how horrific it would be and how widespread it would be,’ she said.

Michael Cahill was a husband and father of three. Vanacker argues that this spectacle isn’t going to make her or any of the other families feel better.

‘This does not bring anyone’s family back. Livestreaming isn’t closure for any of us,’ she said.

Vanacker added that while she ‘can’t speak for most of the families’ that the ones she’s spoken to have found the decision bizarre.

‘Several of those that I’ve talked to — like, those who are prepared and ready and want this execution for their closure — livestreaming is just something that is not even on their radar of what they think is okay. This is just a really horrible reaction and a way to handle the situation.’

She added that no one from the administration or the Pentagon has contacted her or her family about the execution, something prosecutors typically do regarding an execution.

The decision has sparked widespread outrage, with even some Republicans slamming the Trump administration for a dystopian and inhumane handling of an execution.

While Trump initially backed the idea of a public execution, claiming that the killer ‘deserves it,’ he said on Saturday that he had not made a final decision on whether Hasan’s execution would be live streamed.

‘There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it. Cause you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but I’ll make a decision,’ Trump said.

He went on to call Hasan a ‘vicious killer,’ noting that the former Army Major murdered 13 people ‘in cold blood’ and wounded 20 others.

‘Some of those people will never have their lives back in a true sense,’ the president added.

Hasan had been convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder for the killings.

He told officers that he was targeting soldiers deploying to Afghanistan because they were ‘going to engage in an illegal war.’

Hasan descended on a medical processing center at Fort Hood and followed soldiers out the back door before exchanging gunfire with police, becoming paralyzed in the process.

He is now scheduled to die by firing squad on December 3.

Hegseth then unveiled his plan for a public execution during an interview on Jack Posobiec’s podcast, arguing that it would be public ‘because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.’

The Defense Secretary added that the execution by firing squad was a return to tactics used by the US Army in World War II.

He said he liked ‘the mentality we had in World War II, which was win. Which was understand when the enemy attacks you, you stand your ground.’

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, swiftly hit out at Hegseth for proposing the idea, urging the Pentagon on Friday to reverse the ‘gruesome decision’ and saying there is ‘no need to livestream any execution, including this one.

‘I would expect this from terrorists and dictators, but not here in America,’ she posted on X, arguing a livestreamed execution ‘would give this individual, who deserves no further notoriety, the martyrdom he seeks.’

Republican Senator Thom Tillis further declared that public executions are ‘what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do.’

‘It should not be happening in America,’ the North Carolina senator wrote on X, adding that streaming the death was ‘beyond disgusting.’

GOP Senator Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, also expressed his concerns that the livestream could fuel further radicalization.

The UN human rights office also declared on Friday that broadcasting the killing ‘is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture.’

Meanwhile, Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff told MS Now that the Defense Secretary is ‘a deeply unwell person who seems to relish this kind of brutality.’

He accused Hegseth of staging an ‘obscene medieval spectacle’ while ‘running a department that is falling into chaos.’

‘The guy cannot run the military competently,’ Ossoff added.

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