On Oct. 15 President Donald Trump called off plans to live stream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan
Editor’s note: President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 called off plans to livestream the execution.
Nidal Hasan, charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 in a November 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, is pictured in an undated handout photo.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 called off Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad in December.
The plan was met with widespread condemnation, including from U.S. bishops.
President Trump had approved the execution by firing squad of Hasan, the former U.S. Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Oct. 8 in an interview with Real America’s Voice News that the execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, and that it would be made public. Hegseth later confirmed his comments on X.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the USCCB, said in an Oct. 9 statement that he learned of the plans “with shock and great sorrow.”
“Our God is the God of life,” Archbishop Coakley said. “In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered. The word of God exhorts us: ‘do not repay anyone evil for evil’ (Romans 12:17). The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.”
In a statement, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services called upon “all men and women of good will to ask that this decision be reconsidered,” and encouraged any Catholics involved to disassociate with the proceedings.
“As I would in the case of a procured abortion, I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church,” Archbishop Broglio said.
As a U.S. military base, Fort Hood is under the pastoral jurisdiction of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.
The Catholic Church’s official magisterium opposes the use of capital punishment as a violation of the inherent sanctity of human life and advocates for the abolition of the practice worldwide.
The late Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to clarify the Church’s teaching that capital punishment is morally “inadmissible” in the modern world “because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”
In his 2020 encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti,” Pope Francis cited the teaching of St. John Paul II, writing that his predecessor “stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice.”
In a post published on X on Oct. 10, on the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Pope Leo XIV noted that justice can be upheld and the common good of humanity can be safeguarded without relying on capital punishment.
He said criminals can be effectively detained in order to protect citizens, while still allowing those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.
“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption. #NoDeathPenalty,” Pope Leo wrote.
If carried out, Hasan’s execution would mark the first time U.S. officials livestreamed an execution to the public. Some legal analysts noted that appeals and other legal processes could delay Hasan’s execution beyond Dec. 3.
Speaking to reporters Oct. 9, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said plans for a livestreamed execution were unacceptable.
“It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to use this method in this day and age,” he said. “I do not know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle. However guilty the person may be, there are other ways.”
He reiterated that the death penalty “is incompatible with human dignity and does not serve as a deterrent.”In his statement, Archbishop Coakley added, “I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances.”
