Stop Hegseth’s Disgusting Execution Livestream

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a disgusting plan to livestream the execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.

A public execution livestream is not justice. It is barbaric political theater. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has already warned that livestreaming an execution would amount to a public execution and breach the absolute prohibition of torture.

Public executions are associated with authoritarian regimes like Iran and Afghanistan — governments that use death as a spectacle and a tool of fear. The United States should never follow that example.

Tell Congress to protect our country’s democratic values and stop Hegseth’s disgusting execution livestream.

Once released online, the livestream could be copied, shared, and spread anywhere — including to children on social media and extremists who could use it as propaganda.

Instead of deterring violence, Hegseth's public execution spectacle could inflame it. Even some supporters of the death penalty have warned that broadcasting Hasan’s execution could give him the platform for martyrdom he wants.

As a country, we should be better than this. Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have already criticized Hegseth’s plan but they must go further and stop it. They must hold emergency hearings, demand the Pentagon’s legal authority, block federal funds from being used for any execution livestream, and pass legislation to ban public military executions.

With less than 60 days until the scheduled execution, we need to act now. Sign the petition to Congress and tell lawmakers to get to work immediately to stop Hegseth from turning death into propaganda.

The petition to Congress reads: "Block Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from livestreaming or publicly broadcasting any military execution. Hold emergency hearings, demand the Pentagon’s legal authority, prohibit federal funds from being used to turn executions into public spectacles, and pass legislation banning public military executions."