(The Center Square) – Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., opposes U.S. Sec. of War Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution of a man convicted for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood.
“I don't like the idea. I don't think it's a great idea,” McCormick told The Center Square in an interview on Tuesday. “I do support capital punishment, and this was a horrible case of a terrorist killing (thirteen) Americans.”
“Couldn't have been more explicit that he was doing that,” he continued. “So, I'm in favor of capital punishment, but I don't think there's a lot of benefit in live streaming it.”
Hegseth, on Thursday, confirmed a report from CBS News that the U.S. is planning to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, an ex-Army major who was convicted of the 2009 killing of 13 people at Fort Hood. Hasan is scheduled to face a firing squad on Dec. 3 and would be the military’s first firing squad since World War II, according to The New York Times, while also being its first execution by any method since 1961.
McCormick, a West Point graduate who served in the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper during the First Gulf War, also expressed concern about the potential impact of livestreaming the execution.
“I'm afraid it'll sort of feed…and be a public relations benefit to terrorist groups and radicals abroad,” he told The Center Square. “So, I'm not in favor of it.”
McCormick isn’t the only Pennsylvania lawmaker against the Pentagon’s plan to livestream this execution.
“Here's another example of the cruelty: They've decided to livestream an execution of another human being,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said on Saturday. “That's how they do it in North Korea, not in the United States.”
“We're better than this. We're a kind people, not a cruel people,” he continued. “But unfortunately, Trump takes us to the lowest common denominator every time.”
“An execution shouldn’t be a live-streamed spectacle,” Bresnahan wrote on X. “The focus should be on justice for the victims and their families, not turning an execution into entertainment. Their pain deserves respect, not a public show.”
U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th District, is a U.S. Air Force veteran and member of The House Armed Services Committee.
On Friday, she also released a public statement disagreeing with Hegseth’s decision.
"Nidal Hasan is a murderer and terrorist who will face justice as determined by the unanimous verdict of a jury, in accordance with the principles of due process that our democracy is built on,” Houlahan said. “What did the jury not have a say in? Livestreaming the execution for the public to see.”
“The U.S. hasn’t held a public execution in over a century, and with good reason. We are not Iran or North Korea. We know that justice is not entertainment, nor is it the glorification of violence,” she continued. “I urge Secretary Hegseth to reconsider this decision and to treat justice for this heinous act with the seriousness it requires."
The New York Times notes that most lawmakers who have weighed in since the Pentagon announced the livestream have opposed it. However, a few Republicans, including U.S. Reps. Randy Fine of Florida and Andy Ogles of Tennessee, have backed the decision.
Hegseth, who recommended the firing squad, according to The New York Times, explained why he supports the public being able to witness it.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said in an interview with Real America’s Voice aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln on Thursday. He said he was advocating for the public execution “because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
In an interview with Face the Nation on CBS News, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the decision and dismissed concerns about it posing a risk to the United States.
“No one has to watch it if they don't choose to,” Mullin responded when asked about potential risks. “I follow President Trump. He's the commander-in-chief of the country, and he does a phenomenal job.”
“I think people need to understand if you attack America, we will come after you, and we will make sure that the punishment fits the crime,” he later added.
Afghanistan and Iran, CBS News reports, are the only two known countries to execute anyone publicly in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to Amnesty International, while adding that Yemen publicly executed multiple people in 2021.
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