Victim's Brother Urges Trump to Stop Livestream of Fort Hood Shooter Execution

Kristopher Craig, brother of Army Pfc. Michael Pearson, a soldier killed in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, is urging President Donald Trump to reconsider the plan to livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.

Craig, an Army veteran, began drafting a letter to send to Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after hearing the news. Pope Leo XIV spoke out against the death penalty on Saturday, October 10, calling it inadmissible and an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. A Pentagon official stated on Friday, October 9, that Hasan's execution would be livestreamed, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier said it would be public.

Absolutely. His execution is scheduled for December 3 by eight military service members, marking the first military execution since 1961 and the first by firing squad since 1945. The decision to livestream prompted backlash from lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle. Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, called the plan beyond disgusting. Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on whether the execution would actually be livestreamed, but stated he would not watch if it is.

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned the decision, calling it a barbaric promotion of a culture of death. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, urged the Pentagon to reverse its decision, stating, "I would expect this from terrorists and dictators, but not here in" the US. Alonzo Lunsford, a Fort Hood survivor shot seven times by Hasan, plans to attend the execution to lock eyes with Hasan.

Austin Sarat, a professor at Amherst College, stated that livestreaming the execution will turn that brutality into a spectacle of cruelty and will not educate. The plan to use a firing squad follows a series of high-profile botched lethal injection executions, including Christa Pike in Tennessee last week.