Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former Army major scheduled to be executed on December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, would be livestreamed to the public. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood and was sentenced to death in August 2013. Hegseth characterized the attack as a radical Islamist incident and stated that Hasan would face a firing squad of soldiers.
President Trump announced on Thursday that he was cancelling the livestream plan, citing that “many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die.” However, the announcement had drawn support from some religious figures associated with Hegseth’s church community. Douglas Wilson, an Idaho pastor and de facto leader of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), which Hegseth attends, told outlets that he favored public executions over private ones, citing biblical precedent. Wilson stated a preference for firing squads over other execution methods, though he acknowledged that livestreaming executions could present challenges in preventing “ghoulish behavior.”
Wilson and other CREC pastors have long advocated capital punishment for various offenses based on Old Testament interpretations. Joshua Haymes, a podcast host associated with Hegseth’s former church in Tennessee, has repeatedly called for reinstating public executions, including in recent episodes discussing crime statistics. Scholars of Christian reconstructionism note that these positions reflect longstanding theological arguments within that movement about the applicability of Old Testament law.
The positions taken by Hegseth’s religious allies contrast with statements from other religious leaders. Pope Leo and Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the military’s chief Catholic chaplain, both condemned the livestreaming plan. A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed in an email that the execution would be livestreamed, with details to follow, after Trump’s announcement of the cancellation.
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