Retired US generals call on Pentagon to cancel 'barbaric' execution livestream

What the report says

A group of 72 retired US generals, admirals and other senior officers has urged the Pentagon and the White House to abandon plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. In a letter released on Wednesday, the signatories said the broadcast would damage the military’s integrity and could inflame hatred rather than serve justice.

The BBC reports that the Pentagon announced last week it intended to publicly show Hasan’s 3 December execution by firing squad. Hasan was responsible for the deadliest attack on an American military base in peacetime, killing 13 unarmed soldiers and wounding others. Lawmakers from both parties and religious leaders have already criticised the proposal. According to the report, President Donald Trump has said he “absolutely” approved the idea, although CBS News has reported that some administration officials are now less supportive and that no final decision had been confirmed as of Tuesday.

The former officers said they do not oppose capital punishment itself, but argued that a public execution would violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment and turn a grave sentence into spectacle. Their letter says such a broadcast could make Hasan a martyr and be used by America’s enemies. The BBC notes that the signatories included former judge advocates general as well as retired officers who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and other senior posts, underscoring the breadth of the pushback against the plan.