JD Vance casts doubt on firing squad execution and says he will not watch it

What the report says

BBC World News reports that US Vice-President JD Vance has questioned whether the Pentagon will go ahead with plans to livestream the firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted in connection with the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Vance said he did not know the broadcast would actually happen and added that he would not watch it if it were livestreamed.

According to the BBC, Hasan killed 13 unarmed US soldiers and injured 32 others at Fort Hood, Texas, in one of the deadliest attacks on a US military base. The planned execution would be the first military execution in more than 60 years, and the Pentagon said earlier in the week that Hasan would die by firing squad. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth then said the execution would be livestreamed, arguing that people should understand there are serious consequences for such crimes.

The proposal has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum, as well as from religious and human rights groups. BBC reporting notes that Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the UN human rights office have all raised concerns, with critics saying a public broadcast could turn the event into spectacle and undermine the dignity of the victims. The episode highlights continuing debate in the US over capital punishment, military justice and the limits of public access to executions.