US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's plan to livestream the execution of Maj Nidal Hasan, scheduled for 3 December, would place the United States among a small number of nations that systematically carry out public capital sentences.
Currently, only Iran and Afghanistan systematically conduct public executions. In 2025, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan carried out six such killings, while the Iranian regime conducted 11, according to Amnesty International. Saudi Arabia appears to have ceased its practice of public beheadings.
Hegseth has stated that Hasan's execution would take place at the same time and location as his 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, and would use firearms. Hasan, a former army psychiatrist, killed 13 people in the attack. The practice of public executions in the US largely stopped in the 1930s.
Hasan retains the right to launch appeals within the civilian federal court system, which could potentially delay the execution for several years.