US military execution to be broadcast live for the first time

The execution of a US Army soldier convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009 is set to be broadcast live on December 3.

According to Euronews, Nidal Hasan, a former military psychiatrist, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad.

The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that the execution would be broadcast live. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the public should be able to watch the proceedings.

This would be the first execution by firing squad in the US military since World War II and the first military execution in more than 65 years.

Asked if Hasan had made any final requests or reached out to President Donald Trump, Hegseth said: "Don't care. We'll see him on December 3rd."

A Pentagon spokesperson said on Monday that Trump had approved the defence secretary's recommendation.

The last military execution in the country took place in 1961, when a US Army private was hanged after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old Austrian girl. The execution was authorised by then-President Dwight D Eisenhower and took place despite the victim's family asking his successor, John F Kennedy, for clemency.

Image: Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times