1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

Stop the Pentagon from livestreaming the December 3rd firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan. Whatever one thinks of Hasan's crimes — and the 2009 Fort Hood attack that killed 13 people and injured 32 others was an atrocity — turning a state execution into a public spectacle is not justice. It is theater, and it sets a dangerous precedent. Legal experts are already raising serious questions about the dignity of the condemned, who has access to the stream, and what legal authority even permits this. Fordham law professor Deborah Denno notes transparency arguments, but UC Berkeley's Elisabeth Semel is right that this appears government-instigated for political effect — something with no modern precedent. Amnesty International counts only 17 public executions worldwide in 2025, all in Iran and Afghanistan. That is not company the United States should be keeping. Congress has oversight over military conduct and the Defense Department. Use it. Demand that Secretary Hegseth rescind the livestream order before December 3rd.