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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on October 10 that the US military would execute Nidal Hasan by firing squad with the proceedings livestreamed to the public. Hasan was convicted for the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood in Texas that left 13 soldiers dead and more than 30 wounded. The Pentagon followed the announcement by confirming the method and public access in a statement that cited the need to demonstrate serious consequences for such attacks. Hegseth stated that people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.
Public executions in the US stopped nearly a century ago with the 1936 hanging of Rainey Bethea in Owensboro, Kentucky, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. A crowd estimated at 20,000 attended that event, which drew widespread criticism and helped end the practice of open executions. Michael Radelet, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, told the BBC he never imagined another public execution would occur. Radelet noted that public support for the death penalty has declined from 80 percent in 1994 to 52 percent now.
The announcement comes amid a surge in executions nationwide, with 41 carried out so far in 2025 and five more scheduled before the end of the year, CBS News reported. That total matches levels last seen in 2010 and follows years of lower numbers during the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump’s executive order encouraging aggressive pursuit of the death penalty, especially in cases involving law enforcement or undocumented individuals, has contributed to the increase, according to a Marshall Project analysis. Multiple states that had paused executions have resumed them after reviewing protocols.
States have turned to firing squads as lethal injection drugs became harder to obtain and faced legal challenges, a CNN review found. South Carolina carried out three firing squad executions between March and November 2025, while Idaho designated the method as its primary execution approach starting in July 2026. The Death Penalty Information Center data places the number of states authorizing firing squads at five, including Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah. Autopsy findings from one South Carolina case raised questions about whether shooters hit the intended target.
Broader calls for public punishments have emerged outside government channels as well. Billionaire Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir, posted on X advocating for public hangings of repeat violent offenders to serve as deterrence, Newsweek reported. Lonsdale described such measures as an example of masculine leadership needed to protect the vulnerable. Critics responded that normalizing public executions could have unintended consequences, though the posts highlighted ongoing debates over crime and punishment.
The planned livestream of Hasan’s execution would mark the first time US authorities broadcast live video of such an event, according to the Detroit News. It would also represent the first US military execution since 1961 and the first by firing squad since World War II. Radelet warned that framing the death penalty as entertainment risks altering its justification in the public eye. Polling data from multiple sources indicates that while support for capital punishment hovers near historic lows, a significant audience is still expected to view the proceedings.
