U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, publicly objected Friday to the Pentagon’s plan to live-stream the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood gunman Nidal Hasan, writing that while he supports the death sentence, broadcasting an execution is something jihadists do. The statement, posted on X at 8:59 a.m. on Oct. 9, 2026, places a member of the president’s own party at odds with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over how the military carries out its first execution in more than six decades.
“I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that.”
The Reporting Behind the Post
Scott said he was responding to news that the Trump administration has approved a plan to execute Hasan by firing squad. CBS News reported on Oct. 6 that Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced late Monday that the plan, recommended by Hegseth and approved by President Donald Trump, would use an Army firing squad. Parnell wrote on social media: “The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.”
An email sent to the victims’ families and obtained by CBS News Texas said the execution has been scheduled for Dec. 3. Fort Hood officials directed questions to Army headquarters. Hasan’s attorney had not yet been reached for comment when the report was published.
Hegseth: “That It’s Public”
The question of whether the execution would be shown to the public came into focus on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Speaking in a television interview aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which had supported the Iran war, Hegseth said the execution would take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 and would be open to viewing. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said.
Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests or contacted the administration, Hegseth replied: “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3rd.” On Thursday, Pentagon officials clarified that the execution will be livestreamed and said more details would follow, while the White House referred questions about the plan to the Pentagon.
The Crime and the Sentence
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted at a 2013 court-martial of murdering 13 people and injuring more than 30 in the Nov. 5, 2009, shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. He represented himself at trial, acknowledged responsibility for the attack, and said he opened fire on fellow soldiers to protect Islamic insurgents from U.S. forces. He was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court declined last year to take up his 2024 petition, which argued the trial judge violated his right to a public trial.
If carried out, the execution would be the military’s first of a service member since 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged. It would also be a rare use of a firing squad: the method was used three times in South Carolina last year, the first firing squad executions in the United States since 2010. The federal government typically uses lethal injection for civilian death penalty cases, though the Justice Department said earlier this year that officials should consider other methods, including firing squads, electrocution and lethal gas.
A Contrast With Trump’s Past Criticism of Public Executions
The livestream plan also stands against Trump’s own past rhetoric. He has previously criticized public executions in Iran, at times citing the possible killing of protesters by the Iranian government as a possible rationale for military action. Experts on military law have also noted that Hasan could resist execution by filing a habeas petition in civilian court, which could significantly delay the Dec. 3 date.
Scott’s Earlier Breaks With the Administration
Friday’s post is not the first time Scott has publicly challenged the administration this year. On April 14, he criticized Trump over a Truth Social post in which the president said “a whole civilization will die tonight” unless “something revolutionarily wonderful” occurred in the Iran conflict, and over an AI-generated image depicting Trump as Jesus. “I wish I could say this in a private conversation, but I can’t. So I do want to say it: the Easter Sunday post about annihilating a civilization is not okay. It’s not,” Scott said. “And posting a picture portraying yourself as Jesus is not okay,” he added.
Scott also said at the time: “And so I would just advise all of the people at the White House that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Questions to Hegseth Over the Ouster of Gen. George
The next day, Scott turned to Hegseth’s management of the Army. At a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing on military readiness on April 15, he said Hegseth’s removal of Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff, would have a “chilling effect” on the military. “I would like for Secretary Hegseth to answer the reason why they were dismissed. And I think that the way Gen. George and his wife Patty were treated will have a chilling effect on the way our services operate in the future,” Scott said.
He added: “This is a team sport. The officer and the spouse are in this together, and I think that Gen. George and his wife Patty, I think they were very unfairly treated.” Scott also asked whether Hegseth had removed four senior Army officers from a promotion list for one-star generals and said he would “appreciate” Hegseth being “forthcoming” about it.
A Record of Supporting Trump Against Impeachment
Scott’s official statements show a long record of defending Trump against removal efforts. In December 2019, he said House Democrats had released articles of impeachment “with no facts to support their claims,” and after the House vote he said he had voted “NO” and called the process “a partisan witch hunt since the start.” After the Senate acquitted Trump in February 2020, Scott said: “I have asked from the beginning, ‘What was the crime?’ The U.S. Senate has just answered that question. There wasn’t one.”
In January 2021, Scott voted no on both the 25th Amendment resolution and the second article of impeachment against Trump. He said the calls for removal “would not be happening without the leader of the Democratic Party, President-elect Joe Biden’s, support.” In the statements reviewed, Scott has not called for impeaching Trump or Hegseth. On Jan. 20, 2025, he welcomed Trump’s return to office, saying he looked forward to working “with a Commander in Chief who will put America’s economic and national security first.”
What Comes Next
The Pentagon has said further details on the livestream will be released. Questions remain over how the broadcast would be conducted, whether Hasan will pursue a last-minute legal challenge, and whether other lawmakers will join Scott in objecting to the format. For now, the Dec. 3 date stands, and Scott’s statement has drawn a line within the president’s own party: support for the sentence, but not for the broadcast.