Speaker Johnson Says Livestreamed Hasan Execution Could Become a Terrorist 'Recruiting Tool'

Since Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Oct. 8 that the public would be able to watch the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, the plan has drawn objections from inside the president's own party. The most senior is House Speaker Mike Johnson, who raised his reservations in an interview with CBS News that aired Monday, Oct. 12.

Johnson's objection

Johnson was asked about the plan by CBS News analyst Robert Costa. He did not call for the execution to be stopped. He objected to putting it on video.

"The concern would be that you would create a video that would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists," Johnson said. "We've got to think through the policy implications of all that."

He said he would not watch a broadcast. He also said the question is "outside of my lane," but that he needs to "tell the White House what some of my colleagues think about that, and not everybody's in favor of the idea."

How the plan unfolded

The Pentagon announced on Oct. 5 that Hasan would die by firing squad. Spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth recommended it and President Trump approved it.

Three days later, Hegseth told Real America's Voice host Jack Posobiec that Hasan would face a firing squad of soldiers. "We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," Hegseth said.

Asked whether Hasan had filed any requests or appeals, Hegseth answered: "Don't care, we'll see him on Dec. 3." The Pentagon later confirmed it plans to livestream the execution, with more details to come.

Hasan, a 56-year-old former Army psychiatrist, was a major when he opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009. Thirteen people were killed, 12 soldiers and a civilian physician, and 32 were wounded. An unborn child also died. A military jury convicted him in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He has been on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since.

Trump and Vance hedge

On Friday, Oct. 9, a reporter asked Trump whether he had personally approved the livestream. "Did I approve? Absolutely," he said. In the same exchange he said he would make a determination on the broadcast. "I really don't care how he goes as long as he goes," Trump said.

Vice President JD Vance, speaking to reporters in Ohio the same day, said: "I see these announcements. I don't know that that's actually going to happen." He called the attack "the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11" and said that if it is livestreamed, "I'm not going to be watching it."

So the White House's own position is unsettled. The president says he approved the idea and that the final call is still his.

Republican pushback

Sen. Thom Tillis said Thursday that Hasan should face the death penalty. "But making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting," Tillis said. "Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America."

Rep. Adam Scott wrote the next day: "I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that."

The objections are not limited to politicians. Alyssa Farah Griffin, a co-host of ABC's The View and a former Trump White House aide, said she supports the death penalty, "especially for terrorists," but thinks a livestream is "toxic for society." Actor Henry Winkler and writer Joyce Carol Oates also criticized the idea. Oates called it "sadism."

Nobody quoted has defended Hasan. Their objection is to the broadcast, not the sentence.

What is still open

Hegseth's stated rationale is that people need to understand the serious consequences for such crimes. Vance argued that the focus should stay on Hasan's crimes and the soldiers he shot, not the controversy over method.

It is unclear what platform, if any, would carry the broadcast. The Pentagon has said more specific details are still to come.

The date may also not hold. Hasan may be able to put off his execution through a habeas corpus appeal to the civilian federal court system and a request for a stay of execution. Whether the livestream goes ahead depends on a decision Trump says he has not yet made.

Reports differ on how long it has been since the military last carried out an execution by firing squad: AFP reported the first since 1945, while The Epoch Times reported the first since 1961.