Soldiers appeal for help to avoid being part of ‘grotesque and barbaric’ live-streamed firing squad
More than 60 soldiers said they did not want to be involved in the live execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, according to a religious freedom organization that helps members of the U.S. military.
Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Foundation for Religious Freedom, told WTOP that he expects up to 180 troops stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, will eventually seek counseling to avoid being part of the team that will execute Hasan at 1 p.m. on Dec. 3, based on their religious beliefs.
Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be broadcast live.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shootings.
As an army psychiatrist, Hasan walked into a medical building where soldiers were receiving medical exams and shouted “Allahu akbar” – Arabic for “God is great!” » – and opened fire with a laser-aimed handgun. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 injured.
Weinstein said a large number of soldiers expressed religious objections to participating in a live-streamed performance.
“It’s one thing to carry out an execution order. It’s another to stream it, where every second grader, at this point in 2026, with the ability to access the internet can watch this happen,” Weinstein said. “It’s grotesque and barbaric.”
Weinstein said none of the soldiers who sought advice were selected, “but they are vulnerable, in the sense that they are of an MOS, or military occupational specialty, a guy who could be chosen to be part of that firing squad.”
“Most of them are Christians, but we have Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics and atheists – they think it’s an example of the sinful hubris of execution,” Weinstein said.
WTOP requested, but received no new details from the Pentagon, on when and how members of the firing squad will be selected.
Although everyone in the military could be asked to fire a weapon, Weinstein said participating in an execution is not the same.
“If you’re told to take this hill or attack this ship in war, that’s very different from taking a man out in a wheelchair, putting him against the wall and then killing him,” he said.
“Dream of all dreams for Nidal Hasan”
Weinstein said there had not been a public execution in the United States since the 1930s and that the last military execution was in 1961.
“This is going to give Nidal Hasan the dream of all dreams to die as a martyr,” Weinstein said. “This will provide a propaganda bonanza of immense proportions to Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ISIS and the Taliban.”
Weinstein said he believed live streaming an execution “violates humanity and compassion, and undoubtedly the Constitution and legality.”
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Legal experts say there appears to be a narrow path to challenging the live-streamed execution.
Weinstein said there were two things soldiers opposed to participating in the execution could do.
“First, they can file a request for accommodation under the military’s religious procedures, stating that this violates a sincerely held belief that they have,” he said. “The second is to file a complaint under Article 138 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice against their commanders, claiming that they are terribly wronged by their commanders and that they want redress.”
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