The United States will livestream the execution of former army major Nidal Hasan by firing squad on December 3, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced, in what would be the country’s first military execution in more than 60 years.

Hasan was convicted of killing 13 unarmed US soldiers during a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009.

The Pentagon confirmed that the execution would be made public, with Hegseth saying the decision was intended to demonstrate the consequences of such crimes.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said on Thursday. “Because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”

Speaking in an interview with conservative television outlet Real America’s Voice, Hegseth also said Hasan would be executed by a firing squad comprising soldiers.

Hegseth said Hasan is “gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be”.

The execution is scheduled to take place at Fort Hood on December 3, according to the secretary of the US Army, marking the first military execution by firing squad since the Second World War.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Monday that Hegseth had recommended the execution and Trump had approved it.

Under US military law, a military execution requires presidential approval, appellate review and a final judgment on its legality before it can proceed.

Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist from Virginia, killed 13 people and wounded others during a shooting at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009.

The attack occurred inside a crowded medical building where soldiers preparing for deployment were waiting for medical examinations and vaccinations. It remains the deadliest non-combat attack on an American military base.

During his 2013 court-martial, Hasan admitted that he was responsible for the shooting and apologised for “any mistakes”. He told the court that he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The planned execution would bring renewed attention to a case that shocked the US military and raised questions about security at military installations.

The United States has not carried out a military execution since 1961, when an Army private was hanged after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old Austrian girl.

The execution was authorised by then-President Dwight D Eisenhower and proceeded despite the victim’s family appealing to his successor, John F Kennedy, for clemency.

The last US military execution by firing squad occurred much earlier, in January 1945, when Army deserter Eddie Slovik was shot during the final months of the Second World War.

Hasan’s scheduled execution would therefore mark the first military execution in more than six decades and the first by firing squad since 1945. (BBC/Nigerian Tribune)

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