Trump, Vance Signal Unease With Livestreamed Firing Squad

The Defense Department confirmed it will livestream the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. The execution is set for Dec. 3.

• 13 people were killed in Hasan's 2009 attack at the Texas Army post.
• 1961 marks the last U.S. military execution; 1945, the last military firing squad.
• 1936 marks the last public execution by a U.S. state, in Kentucky.
• Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, admitted the shooting at his 2013 trial.

Why it matters: A broadcast execution would break with nearly 90 years of U.S. practice. The plan has split religious leaders and Republican lawmakers.

• Catholic bishops and the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop condemned the livestream.
• Pastor Robert Jeffress backed it, citing Genesis 9:6.

How 79 sources split on this story

Where they split: The dispute is over whether showing the execution publicly honors the value of life or degrades it.

What’s next: The execution is scheduled for Dec. 3. Vice President J.D. Vance raised doubts that the public would see it.

• Sens. Thom Tillis and John Curtis criticized the plan; Rep. Andy Ogles welcomed it.
• CBS's Margaret Brennan asked DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin whether a broadcast could make Hasan a martyr.
• Will the administration go ahead with the livestream despite objections within the GOP?
• Does a public broadcast create security risks, as Brennan suggested?