A group of 72 retired US generals, admirals and other senior military officers is urging the US government to cancel plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad. In an open letter released on Wednesday, they asked the President, their Congressional representatives and fellow citizens to act to prevent what they called a “barbaric abuse of authority.”
The Pentagon announced last week that it would publicly show the execution, scheduled for 3 December. Hasan is an Army psychiatrist who shot dead 13 unarmed US soldiers at the Fort Hood military base. Lawmakers from both parties and religious leaders have also criticised the plan.
Former officers say a public execution would cross a line
The letter’s signatories include 45 generals, 12 admirals and several former judge advocates general. They said they did not oppose the death penalty being carried out. Their objection is to the public nature of the punishment.
They argued that a public execution would violate the Constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment. They also said it would turn what should be a “solemn and grave punishment” into “a carnival for the enjoyment of voyeurs and spectators.” The signatories came from across the military, and included officers who retired during Trump’s first term. Some had served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Warnings over martyrdom and harm to US troops
The officers warned that this type of broadcasting would taint the honour of the military that employs it, and of a nation that allows it. They wrote that enemies could use the footage to stoke hatred and harm American soldiers and citizens in the future. They also said it would make Hasan a martyr for attacking and killing fellow soldiers.
Hasan told a court that he carried out the shooting at Fort Hood, which the source describes as the deadliest non-combat attack ever on an American base. He said he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from the US military. Hasan was shot during the attack and now uses a wheelchair.
Among the signatories are retired Maj Gen Tony Taguba, who led the Army’s investigation into reported prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, and retired Air Force Col Moe Davis, a former prosecutor at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre who has called waterboarding torture. Charles Bolden, a Marine Corps major general who later became head of Nasa, also signed, as did retired Lt Gen Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to become a three-star general in the Army.
Trump’s position and the pending final decision
Last week, President Donald Trump said he “absolutely” approved of the livestream plan. However, US media reports say some administration officials are now leaning against it. As of Tuesday, Trump had not yet made a final decision on the livestream.
Trump has said he signed off on the execution itself, while the question of broadcasting it remains open. If carried out, it would be the first public execution in the US in almost a century. The plan, announced by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been heavily criticised by politicians, academics and experts.
