Vice-President J.D.
Vance cast doubt on Friday (October 20, 2026) on whether the Pentagon will livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan in December but told reporters that if it is livestreamed, “I’m not going to be watching it.”
But Mr.
The Republican V-P said, “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” when asked about the plans that the Pentagon confirmed on Thursday (October 8, 2026). Vance then tried to set aside the controversy over the plans for a public execution and said Hasan’s crimes should not be forgotten. “So whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Mr. Vance said. “Now, that said, I mean, look, if it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it,” he added. President Donald Trump had endorsed Hasan’s execution by firing squad during a Wednesday (October 7, 2026) political event in Texas, suggesting “he deserves it.”
Conference of Catholic Bishops condemned the U.S. government’s decision to livestream Hasan’s execution. He added that the decision was “a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered. Mr. Trump approved the execution by firing squad days after a failed attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection late last month pushed Tennessee’s governor to halt further executions in that state this year. America is better than that.”
Earlier on Friday morning (October 9, 2026), the head of the U.S.
“It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War’s decision to publicly livestream the execution,” Archbishop Paul S Coakley, president of the conference, said in a statement. Earlier reporting noted: “This is a guy who committed, in my view, the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11,” Vance said, but added that if the execution is broadcast live, “I’m not going to be watching it. Earlier reporting noted: Representative Austin Scott of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party said he supported executing Hasan but “livestreaming executions is what jihadists do.
Earlier reporting noted: Condemnation of US plans for a public execution by military firing squad escalated Friday, as Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on whether it would be livestreamed as proposed and insisted he would not watch if it is.
