Pentagon will not livestream execution of Fort Hood gunman, Trump says

US President Donald Trump has said the Pentagon will no longer livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood gunman Nidal Malik Hasan, after the announcement faced bipartisan criticism and vice president JD Vance said he would not watch it.

Mr Trump said on social media that publicly airing the execution “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan”.

But he added that “any very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device”.

The Pentagon has said Hasan’s execution is scheduled for December 3.

Mr Trump said the execution can be viewed in person by immediate families of the victims “if they so choose”.

The announcement earlier this month from defence secretary Pete Hegseth that Hasan’s execution would be public — and subsequent confirmation from the Pentagon that it would be livestreamed — prompted significant blowback from both Republicans and Democrats, with many pointing out that the images could be used to fuel radicalisation.

The Pentagon on Thursday declined to elaborate beyond Mr Trump’s statement.

When asked how the public execution comported with his Christian faith earlier this month, Mr Vance said: “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.

“So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people.”

But he continued: “Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”

Mr Vance is Catholic, and the church has long opposed capital punishment. The head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops had condemned the Trump administration’s decision to livestream Hasan’s execution, with Archbishop Paul Coakley saying the move was a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered”.

Other top Republicans, including House speaker Mike Johnson voiced similar sentiments.

For his part, the president has defended his decision to approve the use of a firing squad, but had for days distanced himself from Mr Hegseth’s announcement that it would be public.

“Well, they’re making a determination about that,” Mr Trump said on Friday when asked about the livestream. As for Hasan and the method of execution, Mr Trump said then: “He will be killed. He will be, through firing squad. I really don’t care how he goes, as long as he goes. And I think the death penalty is a very worthy way of going for him.”

Hasan, an army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, walked into a medical building on November 5 2009, where soldiers were waiting in long lines to receive immunisations and medical clearance for deployment.

He shouted “Allahu akbar” — Arabic for “God is great” — and opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun. He also shot at the backs of soldiers fleeing towards the car park.

Hasan said it was an effort to stop them from going to Afghanistan and killing his fellow Muslims. A military judge barred him from presenting that as a defence during his trial in 2013.

He was left paralysed from the waist down after being shot in the back by law enforcement, and he now uses a wheelchair.