U.S. Plans First Livestreamed Execution Since 1930s; Global Backlash Follows

The U.S. Pentagon announced plans to livestream the December 3, 2026 execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, a military psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. The planned broadcast would mark the first public execution in the United States since the 1930s and the first military execution in over 65 years. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the execution to be conducted openly and livestreamed, arguing that "people need to understand that there are serious consequences for this kind of thing."

The announcement has triggered widespread international and domestic criticism. Amnesty International condemned the plan as an aggravation of cruelty, with Vice-Director of Research Justin Mazzola stating that livestreaming capital punishment "multiplies the cruelty of the death penalty and perpetuates the cycle of violence that authorities supposedly aim to eradicate." The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights labeled the plan a form of torture, equating public livestreaming of executions with cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. Multiple human rights organizations noted that filming and distributing execution videos is a practice historically associated with extremist groups including ISIS.

President Donald Trump, who previously criticized public executions in Iran, initially approved Hasan's execution but later stated on October 9 that no final decision has been made on whether the execution will be publicly broadcast, though he expressed support for the firing squad method. Vice President JD Vance said he does not intend to watch if the livestream occurs.

If the livestream proceeds, the U.S. would join a small group of nations currently conducting public executions. According to Amnesty International's 2025 tracking of 2,700 executions across 17 countries, only Iran and Afghanistan carried out public executions last year—Iran executed 11 people publicly, and Afghanistan six. The U.S. has not publicly executed anyone since the 1930s, having moved capital punishment behind closed doors in prisons. Major social media platforms—YouTube, Meta, Twitch, and X—have not confirmed whether they would allow the government to broadcast the execution on their services. TikTok and Kick stated the livestream would violate their community guidelines banning graphic content and death imagery.