1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand that you publicly oppose and act to stop the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood on December 3. Hasan’s crimes were monstrous, and nothing in this letter excuses them. But turning a man’s death into a broadcast is barbaric. It is the kind of public spectacle we once condemned in authoritarian regimes, and it shows how far this administration has surrendered any claim to being a civilized nation. When the Secretary of Defense answers a question about a condemned man with “Don’t care” and promises that people will be able to watch, he is not delivering justice. He is staging entertainment out of killing. This administration’s conduct here is evil, inhumane, and ignorant: ignorant of the dignity that the rule of law is supposed to protect, of what a livestream will do to the victims’ families who will have to relive the worst day of their lives, and of the message it sends to the world and to our own children. I urge you to: • Publicly condemn the plan to broadcast this execution • Press the Armed Services Committee to demand that the Pentagon reverse course • Support legislation prohibiting the broadcast or streaming of any federal or military execution Please tell me what you will do. Silence on this is a choice.