By Bo Erickson and Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump has not publicly commented on the Pentagon’s unprecedented plan to livestream the military execution of the gunman who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009.
Speaking at a White House event on Friday, Trump said former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan would be executed by firing squad. But he made no comment on the plan announced by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday.
Trump, who has approved the execution, told a rally in Texas on Wednesday that “we are going to deliver final justice to an evil killer.”
The White House has directed all questions to the Pentagon.
Some Republican lawmakers and conservative strategists have criticized the decision. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina called the idea “beyond disgusting” in a social media post.
“Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do,” said the senator, a frequent Trump critic who is not running for reelection. “It should not be happening in America.”
Hasan is set to become the first person to be executed by US military firing squad since 1945. The execution is scheduled for December 3 at the same sprawling Texas base where Hasan opened fire with a handgun in a medical facility.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson; Editing by Ross Colvin and Sanjeev Miglani)
