United States President Donald Trump has cancelled plans to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, reversing a high-profile proposal announced by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Hasan would die by firing squad as scheduled on December 3, but the event would not be streamed publicly. “He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed,” Trump wrote.

The President said the execution could instead be viewed in person by the immediate families of the victims, if they chose to attend.

Reversal after backlash

Hegseth had announced last week that Hasan’s execution would be made public and livestreamed, calling it a way to demonstrate “serious consequences” for terrorism. The Pentagon subsequently confirmed that the execution would be broadcast.

Also Read: Nidal Hasan firing squad execution: When was it last used in US and how does it happen?

The proposal triggered immediate bipartisan criticism. Republican Senator Thom Tillis called it “beyond disgusting,” arguing that public executions were associated with oppressive regimes rather than the United States. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy described the plan as “medieval” and compared it to ISIS-style executions.

Seventy-two retired military officers also urged Trump to halt the livestream, saying it would “taint the honour” of the military and the country.

Trump’s decision followed reports that he had not initially been aware of the scale of Hegseth’s plan and had been debating whether to allow a full broadcast.

What Trump said

Trump acknowledged that a livestream “might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan.” But he said “many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.”

The President approved Hasan’s execution by firing squad earlier this month. The Army scheduled it for December 3 at 1 pm at Fort Hood, Texas -- the same base where Hasan carried out the 2009 attack.

Who is Nidal Hasan?

Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Center on November 5, 2009, killing 13 people and injuring 32 others. Twelve of those killed and 30 of those wounded were soldiers.

Hasan said the attack was intended to stop US soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan. A military judge barred him from using that argument as a defence during his 2013 court-martial.

He was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder, and sentenced to death in 2013. Hasan, now 56, was left paralysed from the waist down after being shot by law enforcement during the attack and uses a wheelchair.

A rare military execution

If carried out as scheduled, Hasan’s execution will be the first US military execution in more than 60 years. The last military execution took place in 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

It would also be the first US Army firing-squad execution since 1945, when Private Eddie Slovik was executed in France for desertion during the Second World War.