US Vice-President JD Vance has cast doubt on the Pentagon’s plans to livestream a firing squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter.
Talking with reporters, Vance expressed doubt that the December execution would move forward as planned, saying: “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen”.
He added, that “if it’s through live stream, I’m not going to be watching it”. Vance described the actions by former US Army major Nidal Hasan as “the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11”.
Hasan fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at a base in Texas in 2009, injuring another 32. His execution by firing squad would be the first military execution in more than 60 years.
The Pentagon announced earlier this week it would execute Hasan on 3 December 2026 by firing squad.
Then on Thursday US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be livestreamed for the public.
“People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” said Hegseth.
The BBC has asked the White House whether Trump supported the plans.
Responding to a reporter’s question on Friday about how the Pentagon’s announcement meshes with his Catholic faith, Vance said: “I see these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.”
The vice-president condemned Hasan’s actions. Vance noted that Hasan, who was a US Army psychiatrist, was meant to treat soldiers for mental illness and other problems and “took them at their most vulnerable and gunned down these people where they lived”.
