Washington — A growing number of Republicans are expressing concern over the Pentagon plan to broadcast live the execution of the Fort Hood shooter in December — or at least, saying they wouldn’t watch.
Over the weekend, President Trump said the administration was still determining whether the execution by firing squad would be broadcast live, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced it would be. THE execution of Nidal Hasanthe former Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, is scheduled for Dec. 3.
President of the House Mike Johnson told CBS News that some members of the House Republican conference do not approve and said he plans to take those concerns to the White House.
“There are colleagues who have concerns,” Johnson said in an interview with national correspondent and chief analyst in Washington Robert Costa. “The problem would be that you were creating a video that would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists. You know, we have to think about the political implications of this. I wouldn’t watch it if it was released. But there are a lot of opinions about it. I think there’s still time to talk about it. … I have to tell the White House what some of my colleagues think about this, and not everyone is in favor of the idea.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said there was “no need to livestream an execution, including this one,” urging the Pentagon to change course.
“I would expect this from terrorists and dictators, but not here in America,” she wrote on
Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said in a statement: “The death penalty is not entertainment. » He said the victims’ families deserve justice. “But publicizing the execution of religious extremists provides exactly what terrorists need: an audience. It turns the heaviest punishment a government can impose into a public spectacle.”
“Justice will be served, but the United States of America does not and should not livestream executions,” Republican Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri wrote on X.
Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. of Pennsylvania wrote: “An execution should not be a live-streamed spectacle. The focus should be on justice for the victims and their families, not on turning an execution into entertainment. Their pain deserves respect, not a public spectacle.
On Friday, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called the livestream of the execution “beyond disgusting.”
Only one Republican member of Congress has publicly expressed clear support for live streaming the execution: Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee: “Excellent. Public execution is what this terrorist deserves,” he wrote on X. “We will be watching.”
vice-president JD Vance said He wouldn’t watch if the broadcast was live on Friday, and he added, “I don’t know if that’s actually going to happen.”
“Regardless of the controversy surrounding the method of execution, I hope people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered many innocent people,” Vance told reporters. “Now, having said that, I mean, look, if it ends up being broadcast live, I’m not going to watch it.”
Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security defended the decision to broadcast live on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” this weekend. Asked if the administration risks making Hasan a martyr, Mullin said, “Nobody has to police that.” Asked further about whether the decision risks radicalizing others, Mullin said: “I think people need to understand that if you attack… if you attack America, we will prosecute you and we will make sure that… that the punishment fits the crime.” »
On Saturday, Mr. Trump raised the possibility that plans could still change.
“There are two ideas: don’t show it and show it,” the president told reporters at the White House on Saturday. “Because you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t do what he did. So I will make a decision at the end of the day. I know what the military would like to do, but I will make a decision.”
The president has given seemingly conflicting information about whether he was involved in the decision to livestream the execution.
When a reporter asked the president Friday whether he authorized or approved the live-streaming decision, he responded, “Absolutely, I did.” But in an interview with CNY Central Syracuse later in the day, he said he “wasn’t involved in that decision” to livestream the execution, while saying he understood the decision was made to “serve as an example.”
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