Context:

The planned Fort Hood firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan will not be livestreamed, with President Trump stating that while the death is inevitable, many people would prefer not to watch. The execution remains set for December 3 at 1:00 p.m. CT, to be witnessed in person only by the victims’ immediate families. Hasan, a former Army major who killed 13 people and injured 32 in 2009, had previously justified the attack as a protest against U.S. deployments. The decision underscores a tension between public deterrence and private remembrance, while Trump also blamed an Obama-era FBI failure for the attack’s success. The event would mark the first U.S. military execution in over six decades, and the first by firing squad since World War II, though attendance is restricted to victims’ families.

Dive Deeper:

• The execution will proceed as scheduled on December 3 at 1:00 p.m. CT at Fort Hood, but will not be livestreamed.

• Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and injured 32 in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting; the incident also involved the death of an unborn child of a soldier.

• Hasan was convicted in 2013 on 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder after the attack.

• Originally, the administration had indicated the firing squad execution would be livestreamed for public viewing, a plan that has been scrapped.

• President Trump said the in-person attendance would be limited to immediate family members of the victims, who may witness the execution if they choose.

• Trump attributed the attack to a security lapse and criticized the Obama-era FBI, claiming investigators failed to stop Hasan after reviewing electronic communications with Anwar al-Awlaki.

• The forthcoming execution would be the first military execution in more than 60 years and the first by firing squad since the end of World War II.