BS BULLETIN:
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the execution of convicted Fort Hood mass murderer Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed to the public.
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Sen. Chris Murphy learned about the plan during a live CNN interview and called it “disgusting,” comparing it to ISIS executions.
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President Trump approved Hasan’s execution by firing squad, scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was visibly stunned Thursday night when CNN’s Erin Burnett informed him that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth intends to livestream the execution of the terrorist who murdered 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.
Murphy hadn’t heard about the plan.
“That’s the first time … that I’m learning he’s gonna televise it,” Murphy said, before delivering his verdict.
“That’s disgusting. What, is he mimicking ISIS executions?”
The Connecticut Democrat argued that public executions were “medieval” and compared the planned broadcast to practices associated with terrorist organizations.
“That’s what America has become?” he asked.
The condemned prisoner is Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder following his November 2009 rampage at Fort Hood, Texas.
Hasan opened fire on fellow soldiers preparing for deployment. He was sentenced to death in 2013.
Trump approved Hegseth’s recommendation for execution by firing squad earlier this week, with the Army scheduling it for December 3 at 1 p.m., the same time of day as the massacre.
Speaking aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Hegseth called the decision a “no-brainer.”
“Army major betrays his country, radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood,” Hegseth said, explaining why he wanted soldiers to carry out the sentence at the installation where the murders occurred.
He also recalled the Obama administration’s initial classification of the attack as workplace violence, a designation that drew years of criticism.
“Remember what Obama called it? ‘Workplace violence,'” Hegseth said.
The defense secretary argued that the public should witness the punishment to understand the consequences of such crimes.
The Pentagon subsequently confirmed that the execution would be livestreamed.
Murphy wasn’t the only lawmaker objecting. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina also condemned the broadcast proposal, calling public executions a practice associated with oppressive dictatorships.
The execution would be the military’s first since 1961 and its first by firing squad since World War II. Livestreaming it would be unprecedented and could raise questions under existing Army regulations governing who may witness an execution.
MY QUICK TAKE
The Fort Hood massacre still burns in America’s memory. Thirteen people were murdered, and the Obama administration’s handling of the attack remains controversial. Hegseth wants to send a message about military justice and terrorism. But executing a convicted mass murderer and broadcasting it to the world are two different decisions.
What do you think? Is livestreaming the execution a powerful statement of justice, or does it cross a line that doesn’t need to be crossed? I’d like to hear where you stand.
