Story perspectives

Trump Weighs Canceling Hasan Execution Livestream After Backlash

By Drooid · Oct 15, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Trump Weighs Cancellation

U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing canceling the planned livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Hasan will be executed by firing squad and initially recommended livestreaming.
Seventy-two retired generals and admirals wrote an open letter calling the livestream “barbaric” and urging cancellation.
Trump said he only learned Hasan is paralyzed, making a public broadcast less palatable.

Summary

Pastor Jeffress Supports Livestream

Senior pastor Robert Jeffress backs the execution livestream, citing Genesis 9:6 as divine mandate.
Victim’s daughter Keely Vanacker learned of the livestream on Instagram and called it a “spectacle.”
Activist Abraham Bonowitz of Death Penalty Action warns the broadcast could make Hasan a martyr.
Counselor Laurie Poole cautions that children viewing the execution may suffer lasting trauma.
Senator Dave McCormick says livestreaming could feed terrorist propaganda and opposes the plan.

Summary

U.S. Considers Execution

The United States would join Iran and Saudi Arabia in holding a public execution.
The last U.S. public execution was a 1936 Kentucky hanging that drew 20,000 spectators.
Kentucky prohibited public executions two years after the 1936 hanging, ending the practice statewide.
The firing-squad method has not been used by the U.S. military since 1945 when Pvt. Eddie Slovik was shot.

History

Historical Context

On August 14 1936, Rainey Bethea was hanged publicly in Owensboro before an estimated 20,000 onlookers, marking the United States’ last open-air execution. The scandal embarrassed the Kentucky General Assembly, prompting Senator William Attkisson’s Senate Bill 69, which Governor Happy Chandler signed on March 12 1938 to ban public hangings. The episode illustrates how media frenzy can drive legal reform.

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Trump Weighs Cancellation

U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing canceling the planned livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Hasan will be executed by firing squad and initially recommended livestreaming.
Seventy-two retired generals and admirals wrote an open letter calling the livestream “barbaric” and urging cancellation.
Trump said he only learned Hasan is paralyzed, making a public broadcast less palatable.

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