U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled plans to livestream the firing squad execution of a convicted military base mass shooter, reversing a widely condemned move by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
asserted
Trump → cancel → Hegseth
The plan to make Nidal Hasan’s execution public was opposed at home and abroad, with U.S. Democratic and Republican politicians, the Catholic Church and the United Nations all expressing outrage.
asserted
politicians → make → outrage
The cancellation is a blow to Hegseth, who is already under fire over the stalemated Iran war and its fallout, which are weighing on Trump’s Republican Party ahead of November midterm elections.
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which → weigh → elections
Hasan “will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
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Trump → die → platform
The U.S. president indicated he did not personally oppose the streaming plan, saying it “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan.”
But “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die,” Trump said, adding that the execution could still be viewed in person by immediate family of the victims if they wanted to do so.
uncertain
they → indicate → victims
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth and Trump had spoken before the announcement.
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Hegseth → say → announcement
“The secretary supports the president’s decision, and they are completely aligned,” Parnell said in a statement.
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Parnell → support → statement
Hasan’s execution — scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he gunned down 13 people in 2009 — is set to be the first by a U.S. military firing squad since 1945.
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he → schedule → 1945
Last week, Hegseth said that “we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” later confirming that the plan was to livestream the execution.
“People need to understand that…there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” he said.
asserted
he → say → things
Backlash to the plan quickly grew following Hegseth’s announcement.
asserted
Backlash → grow → announcement
The United Nations said streaming the execution would amount to “torture,” while the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it was a “barbaric promotion of a culture of death,” and both Australia and Britain’s prime ministers described it as “abhorrent.”
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Australia → say → it
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Thursday found that eight in 10 Americans opposed livestreaming the execution.
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Americans → release → execution
Lawmakers from both main U.S. parties have said they were against it, and dozens of retired U.S. military officers expressed opposition to the planned broadcast in an open letter.
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dozens → say → letter
It “will taint the honor of the military that employs it, and a nation that allows it,” and “will ensure that Hasan becomes a martyr,” said the officers, including more than 40 generals and admirals.
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officers → taint → generals
Some U.S. Democratic lawmakers on Thursday hailed the decision to cancel the livestream while slamming Hegseth.
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lawmakers → hail → Hegseth
Representative Chrissy Houlahan said it was “as clear an illustration as any that Hegseth is dangerously unqualified,” while Senator Jack Reed said Trump was “right to backtrack” but that Hegseth “deserves to be admonished for his lack of judgment.”
asserted
Hegseth → say → judgment
Republican Senator John Curtis also weighed in, saying the cancelation “is the right move, both for the loved ones of the victims and for the country.”
The last U.S. military execution was carried out in 1961, when John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder.
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Bennett → weigh → rape
The Death Penalty Information Center says 135 troops have been executed by the U.S. military since 1916.
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troops → say → 1916
Twelve of the 13 people Hasan killed and 30 of those he wounded were soldiers.
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he → kill → those
He was shot by a civilian police officer who responded to the attack and is paralyzed from the waist down.
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who → shoot → down
Hasan chose to conduct his own defense during the trial but called no witnesses and gave no testimony, and made no attempt to deny the charges.
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Hasan → choose → charges
He was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013.
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He → sentence → 2013
The court that convicted Hasan was told he was opposed to the U.S. military’s occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and that he had spoken online with an alleged al-Qaida figure, radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen subsequently killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.
asserted
he → convict → Yemen
The Aporia
