By Elizabeth Gresosky
Following the announcement from Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth that the planned execution of Nidal Hasan in December might be livestreamed, Archbishop Timothy Broglio for the US Military Services issued a statement for Catholics.
First and foremost, Broglio remembered with sadness the victims of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre for which Hasan was convicted. Broglio actually presided over the funeral for Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian who died in the shooting.
“I repeat the opposition of the Catholic Church to capital punishment. The Catechism was already clear and Pope Francis made it even clearer. The dignity of the human person is again at stake,” Broglio said.
He continued, “do we really want to imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries? The crime committed by Nidal Malik Hasan was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose? Has the potential moral injury, which the members of the firing squad might experience, been considered?”
“Will the exposure of a live-stream to the young and impressionable during the 250th anniversary year of our independence be able to be repaired? The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world. Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheel chair to the whole world? Does this decision reflect the dignity of the human person?”
Broglio encouraged “men and women of good will to ask that this decision be reconsidered” and obliged “any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church.”
⭕️ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth excitedly explained the decision to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former U.S. Army major who killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, in an interview with Real America’s Voice: "It’s going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad. It hadn’t been since World War II, since we’ve done that. … I kind of like the mentality we had in World War II, which was ‘win.’" Hasan is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood. The US military last used a firing squad in 1945, and its last execution of any kind was in 1961. Human rights groups have documented public executions in recent years in only a handful of countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia and North Korea. U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, which executed a record 345 people in 2024, has long beheaded prisoners in public squares.
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) October 9, 2026
House Speaker Mike Johnson recently voiced concerns about the “policy implications” of a livestreamed execution and added that he would not watch it.
Joe Kent, the former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, expressed similar concerns on X. He wrote,
“There is no doubt Hassan deserves to die. His crimes were demonic and unforgivable—death by firing squad is borderline too merciful. But broadcasting his execution is beneath the dignity & decency of our nation.”
“Americans will use violence if and when justified, but we do not rejoice in it. Kill him swiftly & silently.”
“Streaming his execution is not just a stain on our morality—it also gives the terrorists free propaganda that they will use to radicalize & recruit more terrorists like Hassan.”
Days later, Kent pointed out that pro-al-Qaeda channels are already using the planned execution of Hasan as a recruiting tool.
Vice President JD Vance also commented that he would not watch the livestream if it does happen, but added that Hasan’s heinous crimes should not be forgotten.
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