1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing as your constituent about the Pentagon's plan to livestream the Dec. 3 firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, and the gap in federal rules that lets it happen. Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 at Fort Hood in 2009. His conviction and sentence are not in question, and I am not asking you to spare him. I am asking you to stop the military from broadcasting his death. On October 8, the Pentagon said the execution "will be livestreamed," after Secretary Hegseth said he wanted people to be able to watch. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, it would be the first known livestream of a state-sanctioned execution in this country. The objections cross party lines: - Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), a House Armed Services member, said "livestreaming executions is what jihadists do." - Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) supports the sentence but called a livestream "beyond disgusting." - Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on Senate Armed Services, called it "a gift to anti-American terrorist recruiters." - Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on House Armed Services, said it "makes a mockery of our legal system." The administration itself is not aligned. The President said "they're making a determination" on the livestream, and the Vice President said he does not know it will happen. According to ABC News, citing two officials, the announcement surprised some Army planners. Here is the gap. The federal prison system bars recording or broadcasting executions, but military regulations do not carry that ban over. Army Regulation 190-55 limits who may witness an execution, yet the provost marshal general can waive its provisions, and legal experts say few challenges are available to anyone but Hasan. An internal waiver may be all it takes. Congress is the check that is left. I urge you to: 1. Extend the federal ban on recording and broadcasting executions to military executions, through a bill or a defense authorization amendment 2. Demand that the Pentagon state in writing whether a waiver of Army Regulation 190-55 has been requested or issued, and who approved it 3. Press the Pentagon to say whether victims' families will be invited, which it declined to answer last week Hasan should face the sentence a military jury gave him. The victims and survivors are owed a solemn, lawful execution, not a broadcast, and Congress should make sure that is what they get before December 3.