‘Recruiting tool for terrorists’: US House Speaker wary of livestreamed execution

US House Speaker Mike Johnson has raised concerns within the Republican Party over the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of former US Army major Nidal Hasan. — AFP pic

First Published: Tuesday, 13 Oct 2026 8:51 AM MYT

WASHINGTON, Oct 13 — US House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had reservations about a planned livestreamed execution in an interview broadcast by CBS News on Monday.

Nidal Hasan, 56, was sentenced to be executed by firing squad on December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he shot and killed 13 people in 2009.

The decision to livestream the execution – which would be the first US military execution by firing squad since 1945 – has drawn widespread criticism, with the top congressional Republican adding his voice to the debate.

“The concern would be that you would create a video that would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists,” Johnson told CBS News, adding: “We’ve got to think through the policy implications of all that.”

The Republican lawmaker said he would not watch the execution if it were broadcast live.

“There are colleagues who have concerns,” he said.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the idea of livestreaming the execution, saying: “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.”

President Donald Trump, for his part, has said a final decision on whether the execution would be broadcast live remains to be made. — AFP