The firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed, the Pentagon said Thursday, a stunning revelation about plans for the first military execution in more than 65 years after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had described it as being “public.
asserted
Hegseth → livestreame → it
The Army announced this week that the execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 after Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting at the military base in 2009.
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Hasan → announce → 2009
Hegseth, speaking to the conservative TV outlet Real America’s Voice News on Wednesday, said, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.”
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it → speak → it
Officials in the Pentagon clarified Thursday that the execution would be livestreamed and that more details would follow.
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details → clarify → Pentagon
The revelation from Hegseth about the public nature of an execution — let alone one as violent as a firing squad — has raised further questions about how the death penalty is carried out in the United States, especially after the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee.
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penalty → let → Tennessee
Experts offer mixed reactions on the plan
Hasan could choose to resist execution and file a habeas petition in civilian court, which is a legal request for a court to review the legality of someone’s detention, and could significantly delay the execution, experts on military law said.
“It frankly might outlast the current administration, and who knows if the next one will have the same penchant for executions,” said Eugene R. Fidell, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School specializing in military law.
uncertain
Fidell → offer → law
Deborah Denno, a death penalty expert and law professor at Fordham University, said livestreaming an execution could make the process “much more transparent” and inform the public about all that capital punishment entails.
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punishment → say → that
Those are benefits that she said would be useful at a time when Pike’s botched execution has raised fresh questions about the manner by which criminal defendants are put to death for their crimes.
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defendants → say → crimes
“I think it could possibly be a good idea because it would be transparent and the public would be fully aware that it’s happening,” she said.
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she → think → ?
Denno acknowledged that there may need to be public policy discussions about the platform hosting the livestream and what age or other viewing restrictions might be necessary.
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age → acknowledge → livestream
But she said that on balance, “It’s not such a far-fetched idea.”
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It → say → balance
On the other hand, Elisabeth Semel, co-director of the Death Penalty Clinic at UC Berkeley Law, said Hegseth’s announcement raises a host of legal and public policy questions, including concerns for the dignity of the defendant, who will be eligible to view the execution and what the Trump administration has in mind in opting for an unusual spectacle.
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administration → say → spectacle
Though there has been long-running discussion about the idea of televising an execution, “I don’t recall a situation in which it was instituted by the government.
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it → run → government
I think that also raises serious questions about what is the motivation of the government,” she said.
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she → think → government
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“This is a president who’s about spectacle and that’s, I think, precisely the message that he intends to deliver,” Semel said, adding that she was skeptical that the administration had given second thought to the legal and social questions being presented by the decision.
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administration → get → decision
Trump has spoken out against public executions in Iran
Trump, who approved Hasan’s execution, has previously been critical of public executions in Iran, at times using the possibility of protesters being killed by the Iranian government as a possible rationale for military action.
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who → speak → action
Those warnings preceded his ultimate choice to attack Iran at the end of February.
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warnings → precede → February
“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping,” Trump told reporters on Jan. 14.
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Trump → tell → Jan.
“It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions.”
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It → stop → executions
He repeated that on Jan. 20 at a White House press briefing.
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He → repeat → briefing
Slightly more than a month later in his State of the Union address, Trump said, “We stopped them from hanging a lot of them with the threat of serious violence.”
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We → say → violence
The White House on Thursday referred questions about the plans for the livestreamed execution to the Pentagon.
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House → refer → Pentagon
Hegseth was asked Wednesday if Hasan had made any final requests or reached out to the Trump administration.
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Hasan → ask → administration
The Pentagon chief simply replied: “Don’t care.
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chief → reply → ?
We’ll see him on Dec. 3.”
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We → see → Dec.
It’s not clear if Hasan will try to appeal
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, walked into a medical building on Nov. 5, 2009, where soldiers were waiting in long lines to receive immunizations and medical clearance for deployment.
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soldiers → try → deployment
He shouted “Allahu akbar” — Arabic for “God is great!” — and opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun.
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God → shout → handgun
He also shot at the backs of soldiers fleeing toward the parking lot.
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He → shoot → lot
Hasan said it was an effort to stop them from going to Afghanistan and killing his fellow Muslims.
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it → say → Muslims
A military judge barred him from presenting that as a defense during his 2013 trial.
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judge → bar → trial
Hasan was left paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back by law enforcement, and he now uses a wheelchair.
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he → leave → wheelchair
Hasan could seek a lengthy delay of his execution, though given his behavior at trial, he may not want to.
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he → seek → trial
After firing his lawyers and representing himself, Hasan began his portion of the trial by telling jurors he was the gunman.
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he → fire → jurors
He said little else over the next three weeks, which convinced his court-appointed standby lawyers that Hasan’s only goal was to get a death sentence.
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goal → say → sentence
As the trial progressed, those suspicions grew.
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suspicions → progress → ?
The military called nearly 90 witnesses, but Hasan rested his case without calling a single person to testify in his defense and made no closing argument.
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Hasan → call → argument
Yet he leaked documents during the trial to journalists that revealed him telling military mental health workers that he could “ still be a martyr ” if executed.
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he → leak → workers
Attorney John Galligan, a former military judge who had represented Hasan in several civil matters following his criminal trial, spoke with Hasan Wednesday but is barred from offering much detail about that conversation.
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who → represent → conversation
He is not representing Hasan in his criminal case but said he’s worried about his physical health under the plan laid out by officials, and that Hasan has not yet had access to legal counsel.
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Hasan → represent → counsel
Galligan said that according to Hasan, the commandant of the facility brought a chaplain but no attorney from either the Trial Defense Service or from his civilian defense when he was notified that Trump had signed off on his execution.
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Trump → say → execution
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
