Under a barrage of public outrage, Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would reverse course and cancel the planned livestreamed execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan — convicted of murdering 13 people at Fort Hood — which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced last week. The reversal does not erase Hegseth’s reprehensible judgment in making the initial decision, nor does it render insignificant the commendable opposition stated by members of the armed services.
Hegseth has proven himself utterly unfit to uphold his oath of office or to defend the rule of law, the honor of the U.S. military, and the storied tradition of decency, nonpartisanship, and excellence that made it the envy of the world. But in this case, Hegseth went too far even for many Republicans — including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Public revulsion was immediate, bipartisan, and widespread. “Only 18% of Americans strongly or somewhat favor having executions broadcast live to the public, while 69% oppose this,” The Economist/YouGov poll reports. In fact, the majority of Republicans (52% oppose / 31% favor), MAGA Republicans (48% / 36%), and death penalty supporters (55% / 32%) opposed such a spectacle.
Most noteworthy were the objections from the military itself, as WTOP reported:
More than 60 soldiers have stated they don’t want to be involved in the livestreamed firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, according to a religious freedom organization that assists members of the U.S. military.
Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, told WTOP he expects up to 180 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, will ultimately seek guidance to avoid being a member of the team that will execute Hasan at 1 p.m. on Dec. 3, on the basis of their religious beliefs….
Weinstein said a wide variety of soldiers have expressed their religious objections to being part of a live-streamed spectacle.
As a preliminary matter, no one should minimize the courage it took to register objections of any type to this abusive, cruel, and vindictive regime — which has retaliated against senior officers by denying promotions, firing Stars & Stripes journalists for writing negative accounts, and attempting to prosecute members of Congress for telling military personnel to reject illegal orders. To stand up to Hegseth and Trump on religious grounds, revealing the degeneracy of a White Christian nationalist secretary who revels in death and oozes Islamophobia, showed extraordinary character.
The military personnel’s aversion to carrying out a stunt so at odds with the traditions of the military and of the moral sensibilities of our democracy (at least those that existed before the descent into MAGA debasement) spoke well of their moral fiber. “It’s one thing to carry out an order of execution. It’s quite another to have it streamed, where every second grader, at this stage in 2026, with the ability to get to the internet, can watch it happen,” Weinstein told WTOP. “It’s grotesque and barbaric.” He added, “Most of them that have come to us are Christians, but we have Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, we have agnostics and atheists — they feel this is an example of the sinful pride of execution.”
The troops’ objections came on the heels of a public statement released on October 12 by Archbishop Timothy Broglio, responsible for the spiritual guidance of Catholics in the military. He declared that “it is my duty to express my disapproval of what is proposed regarding the execution of the terrorist Hasan in the Archdiocese entrusted to my spiritual care to be done by those for whose salvation I have been constituted as the Archbishop for the Military Services, USA.”
“The dignity of the human person is again at stake.”
After reiterating the Catholic Church’s opposition to capital punishment — he issued a heartfelt plea:
[D]o 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 wheelchair to the whole world? Does this decision reflect the dignity of the human person?
Broglio asked for the decision to be “reconsidered” and, in any event, to do whatever “is possible to keep the exposure to the live-streaming of the proposed execution from the vision of the young and impressionable.” That, as the archbishop undoubtedly knew, would have been virtually impossible in an era of ubiquitous screens, which only underscores the moral insanity of putting out such images. In a noteworthy analogy that should have touched a nerve with those in the Trump regime who identify as pro-life, Broglio concluded by asking that “[a]s I would in the case of a procured abortion, I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church.”
On one level, as heinous as this may be, Hegseth has been guilty of much greater sins and crimes against humanity (e.g., ordering reckless strikes that killed nearly 240 people on the high seas, and 156 innocent people at an Iranian school). However, the gratuitous barbarity and determination to drag junior personnel into a travesty of this sort marked, in some respect, a new debasement of the military.
By stark contrast, we should herald the decency and ethical resoluteness of military personnel who — at risk to themselves and their livelihoods — refused to participate in this depraved act. We salute those, including the archbishop, who provided spiritual and religious guidance. And those who resisted may have been instrumental in forcing Trump’s about-face.
At a time when the president and a flock of his minions, indeed an entire political party, so abjectly fail to serve as decent role models, we are particularly appreciative of the undaunted moral bravery of those who serve in the armed forces, risking their lives to maintain our freedom as they maintain the highest, truest tradition of military honor and human decency.
Hegseth needs to die in prison or we haven’t fixed anything.
Another terrible decision, which will result in the death of many more people. Is Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine.
Is it because he hates Zelensky, who rebuffed him years ago, or does Trump now expect Putin to help him in the election? The DOJ and CIA are no longer monitoring foreign interference they way they always did. Trump always wants something in return. Cyber attacks? Disinformation? Other kinds of election interference? Watch out.