Vance Doubts Pentagon Will Livestream Fort Hood Shooter's Execution
Vice President JD Vance cast doubt Friday on whether the Pentagon will livestream the December execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, saying he won't watch if it happens, while Catholic leaders condemned the plan as barbaric.
Vice President JD Vance expressed skepticism Friday about whether the Pentagon will follow through on its plan to livestream the December execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, telling reporters he doubts the public broadcast will actually take place.
«I don't know that that's actually going to happen,» Vance said when asked about the plans the Pentagon confirmed a day earlier. But even if the execution is streamed for the public to see, the vice president made clear he would not be among the viewers. «If it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not going to be watching it,» he added.
Vance, a convert to the Catholic Church, which has long opposed capital punishment, sought to redirect attention away from the controversy over the method of execution and back to Hasan's crimes. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others during a shooting rampage at the military base in 2009.
«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,» Vance said.
The vice president's comments came shortly after Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a sharp condemnation of the government's decision to livestream the execution. «It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War's decision to publicly livestream the execution,» Coakley said in a statement. He called the decision «a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.»
President Donald Trump, who approved Hasan's execution, addressed the matter earlier at a White House event, telling attendees that Hasan would receive «the death penalty through firing squad. And he deserves it.» The president referred to Hasan as «a maniac» but did not mention the Pentagon's plans to broadcast the execution publicly.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth noted that the U.S. military has not executed a service member by firing squad since World War II. The last military execution occurred on April 13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was put to death by hanging.
The decision to approve the firing squad method came days after a failed lethal injection attempt in Tennessee involving Christa Pike, which prompted that state's governor to halt further executions for the remainder of the year. Trump, a longtime vocal supporter of capital punishment, has not publicly commented on the livestream aspect of the plan.
The Pentagon's confirmation of the livestream plan has drawn criticism from religious leaders and death penalty opponents, while supporters of the execution emphasize the severity of Hasan's crimes. The case has renewed national debate over capital punishment and the role of public visibility in executions.
Vance's remarks reflect a careful balance: acknowledging the gravity of Hasan's actions while distancing himself from the controversial decision to broadcast the execution. His statement that he will not watch the livestream, if it occurs, underscores the unease even among some supporters of the death penalty about the unprecedented public nature of the planned execution.
As the December execution date approaches, it remains unclear whether the Pentagon will proceed with the livestream or whether legal or political challenges could alter the plan. For now, the vice president's comments suggest that even within the administration, there is uncertainty about how the event will ultimately unfold.
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