Trump Cancels Livestream of US Military Execution for Fort Hood Killer, per Reuters
The sentence stands, the spectacle does not
President Donald Trump has canceled the planned livestream of the US military execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, per Reuters.
Trump said on Thursday that he had overruled his defense chief, who had intended the execution to be a public spectacle. "He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed," Trump wrote in a social media post.
Trump wrote that streaming the execution might have been a strong deterrent, showing how America deals with terrorists, but that many good and well meaning people would rather not watch Hasan die through streaming or any other visual device. The families of Hasan's victims will still be able to view the execution in person if they choose, as is standard at US executions.
A plan announced before the White House saw it
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced earlier this month that Hasan would be executed by a firing squad on December 3 at the Fort Hood military base, the site of Hasan's 2009 attack, and surprised many by saying it would be broadcast live. No other country is known to televise or livestream judicial executions.
Per Reuters, Trump and his advisers were unaware of the livestream plan before Hegseth's announcement in a media interview, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The plan drew doubts from some of Trump's fellow Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, as well as religious leaders and international observers, and recent polls have shown a majority of Americans opposed livestreaming it. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who oversees the spiritual care of Catholic members of the US armed forces, also raised objections, while Pope Leo condemned capital punishment in all its forms.
Seventeen years after the attack
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. A military court convicted him of the killings and sentenced him to death in 2013, and under US military law a death sentence requires presidential approval.
The December 3 execution would be the first US military execution since 1961.
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Options market and stocks to watch
This is a political story rather than an earnings one, and there is no direct revenue read-through for any listed company. The names that tend to move on defense and military headlines are the big primes, led by LMT and RTX, with NOC close behind.
Any options activity there into the December 3 date would be sentiment driven rather than fundamental, so size accordingly. Watch the defense names and broader political headlines on the Unusual Whales news feed.
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