Vance Won't Watch Fort Hood Convict's Livestreamed Execution

Vice President JD Vance stated Friday that he would not watch the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, if it is livestreamed. Vance also cast doubt on whether the execution would, in fact, be broadcast publicly.

"I don't know if that's actually going to happen," Vance told reporters when asked about the planned livestream. He added, "If it's all through livestream, I'm not going to be watching it."

Hasan, who shot and killed 12 soldiers and one civilian at the Texas base on November 5, 2009, was found guilty of all 42 counts by a court-martial jury on August 23, 2013. He was sentenced to death days later. President Donald Trump approved the death sentence for his crimes, and Acting Secretary of the Army Hon. Adam Telle directed that Hasan be executed by firing squad. The execution is anticipated to take place in December.

Vance described Hasan's attack as "the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11," emphasizing that "He took them at their most vulnerable and gunned them down these people where they lived."

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had revealed in an interview that Hasan would be publicly executed by firing squad, stating, "We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public. People need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things."

Hegseth's remarks drew bipartisan criticism. The UN human rights office called broadcasting the killing "tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture." Democratic Senator Chris Murphy accused Hegseth of "mimicking" terrorist organizations like ISIS. Republican Senator Thom Tillis stated that public executions are "what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do," adding that "It should not be happening in America."

Despite the controversy surrounding the method of execution, Vance indicated that Hasan deserved to die for his crimes. "Whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don't forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people," he said.