The President of the United States, Donald Trump, communicated his decision in a message published on Truth Social: carrying out the execution so that everyone could see it “could have been a strong deterrent” to show the world “how the United States treats terrorists and scum like Hasan.” He admits, however, that “many very good and well-intentioned people would prefer not to see him die.” “He will die, as planned, by firing squad, but this act will not be broadcast,” he wrote.
Trump specified that the victims’ immediate family members may attend in person if they wish. “They deserve to witness JUSTICE!” he added. In the same message, he criticized the Obama administration because the FBI intercepted communications between Hasan and the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki before the attack without considering them a threat.
The execution is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood (Texas), the same location of the crime. It would be the first military execution in the United States since 1961 and the first by firing squad since World War II. Hasan could still delay it with a habeas corpus petition before a civil court.
A week of back and forth
The Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, stated on October 8 on Real America’s Voice that the execution would be public and that Americans would be able to watch it. The Pentagon later confirmed that it would be broadcast live. The next day, Trump told journalists that he had “absolutely” approved it, although he also said the decision was still pending. Vice President JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism, questioned whether the broadcast would actually take place and warned that he would not watch it. Legislators from both parties criticized the plan.
Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded 32 others on November 5, 2009 at a deployment preparation center. Among the deceased was a pregnant soldier. He was sentenced to death in 2013 by a military court, before which he defended himself and acknowledged authorship of the attack.
The Church’s response
The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, expressed his shock and pain at the War Department’s decision. He recalled that “our God is the God of life” and reiterated the Church’s opposition to the death penalty. The military archbishop, Timothy Broglio, warned that the broadcast would turn the inmate’s death into a spectacle. He also asked Catholic service members assigned to the firing squad to request an exemption. The bishops of Texas also condemned the execution and its broadcast, and Pope Leo XIV spoke out those days against the death penalty, although without mentioning the case.
The teaching to which the bishops refer is based on the revision of paragraph 2267 of the Catechism approved by Francis in 2018. That reform declares the death penalty “inadmissible” because it violates the inviolability and dignity of the person. The previous wording, from 1997, admitted it only as a last resort to defend human lives. The scope of that change and its continuity with previous magisterial teaching remain the subject of debate among theologians.