US President Donald Trump has cancelled plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan after political and religious criticism.
Trump said Hasan’s execution by firing squad would proceed as scheduled, but would not be broadcast.
According to him, many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die.
“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan,” Trump said.
“He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” the president added.
Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at the Texas military base in November 2009.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had outlined the plan in an interview with conservative broadcaster Real America’s Voice, reported on October 8.
Speaking aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, he said the execution should be available to watch “because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things”.
John Galligan, a lawyer for Hasan working primarily on civil issues, told the BBC that Trump’s decision to cancel the livestream of his execution “comes as no surprise”.
“It was initially a dumb decision and statement by Hegseth to livestream any execution – and it violated the Army’s own regulation,” Galligan said.
He said Hasan is paralysed from the chest down, something that Trump “allegedly didn’t even know” when he approved the livestream plan.
“The damage has already been done – the Army is now just trying to clean up the mess,” Galligan said. “It will permanently remain a stain on our military justice system.”
He added that it was not clear if Hasan was aware yet of Trump’s “reversal” of the livestream decision.
Hasan fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at a military base in Texas in 2009, injuring another 32. His execution by firing squad will be the first military execution in more than 60 years.
