U.S. Vice President JD Vance has said he will not watch a possible broadcast of the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former military psychiatrist convicted of the 2009 attack at Fort Hood.
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President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has expressed his support for execution by firing squad, calling Hasan a “maniac” and declaring that he deserves the death penalty.
The issue of Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution has returned to the spotlight in the United States following statements by two senior American officials about the former service member’s fate.
Vance said he was not sure whether the execution would be broadcast live, but clarified that, if it is, he would not watch it.
“I don’t know if that’s actually going to happen,” Vance told reporters on Friday in Ohio. “If it is ultimately broadcast live, I will not watch it,” the vice president added.
However, he strongly condemned Hasan’s attack and stressed that his victims must not be forgotten.
“I hope people don’t forget that this is a person who brutally killed many innocent people,” Vance said.
Donald Trump has also spoken directly in favor of executing the former U.S. Army major, using harsh language against him.
“We are giving the death penalty to a man who killed 14 soldiers several years ago. The death penalty by firing squad, and he deserves it. He killed and wounded many, many people. He’s a maniac,” Trump said during an event at the White House.
On Monday, the president approved carrying out the capital punishment following a recommendation from U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
However, Trump has not yet taken a definitive position on the most controversial issue: broadcasting the execution in real time.
Pete Hegseth has defended the use of the firing squad as an execution method, saying the public needs to understand that such actions carry serious consequences.
The U.S. secretary of war described the method as a clear decision, while the proposal to broadcast the execution as a public event has prompted reactions and opposition.
Reports indicate that Hasan’s execution is scheduled to take place on December 3, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. local time, at Fort Hood. If carried out, it will be the first execution of a member of the U.S. armed forces since 1961, as well as the first military execution by firing squad since World War II.
Nidal Malik Hasan, who had served as a psychiatrist in the U.S. Army, carried out the attack on November 5, 2009, at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.
He opened fire inside a medical building where soldiers were waiting for health checks and procedures carried out before deployment. As a result of the attack, 13 people were killed and 32 others were wounded.
Investigations showed that Hasan had prepared the attack for several weeks and had visited a shooting range in Texas several times. During the trial, he did not deny responsibility for his actions and was found guilty on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.
Hasan had stated that the motive for the attack was opposition to the deployment of U.S. troops to Afghanistan, but the military court did not accept this argument as part of his defense against the charges.
