Catholic bishops condemn plan to livestream Fort Hood shooter’s execution 

Catholic bishops recently condemned the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of an Army officer who killed 13 people in 2009.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who supports a public execution, said Nidal Hasan betrayed his country by killing fellow soldiers. He believes a public punishment will deter similar attacks.

“Army major betrays his country. Radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood,” Hegseth told Real America’s Voice last week.

Hasan, an Army major and psychiatrist, opened fire at the Texas base on Nov. 5, 2009, killing 13 people and wounding dozens. His attack happened inside a building where soldiers underwent medical checks.

An Army firing squad is scheduled to execute him at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. President Donald Trump approved his death sentence on Oct. 2 after Hegseth recommended a firing squad.

Hegseth said soldiers will kill Hasan with rifles. He said officials chose Fort Hood to match the location, day of the week and time of the terrorist attack.

He said letting the public watch would show “there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”

During his trial, Hasan admitted he had switched sides against the United States, choosing instead to support the Taliban in Afghanistan.

A military appeals court upheld his death sentence, citing his planned killings and choice to target military members. The court also said he broke oaths he took as an Army officer and a doctor.

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, opposes livestreaming the execution.

“In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,” he said in a statement last week.

Coakley cited Romans 12:17, which warns against repaying evil with evil. He said a public execution would hurt the country’s moral life, even though the condemned man had committed horrible crimes.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, also opposed the plan.

Broglio said the Catholic Church opposes the death penalty and that the United States can protect the public by keeping dangerous criminals in prison.

“Even in the case of the most heinous crimes, the Church begs for clemency,” Broglio told EWTN News.

Trump hasn’t decided whether to allow the livestream.

Hasan is scheduled to be the first person executed by the U.S. military since 1961. The military last used a firing squad in 1945, but states have used it more recently.

A military jury sentenced Hasan to death in August 2013. The Supreme Court declined to review his conviction in March 2025.

(Image credit: Screenshot/CBS News)