The Pentagon wants the public to watch Nidal Hasan die.
Hasan, the former Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on December 3rd at 2PM ET. Anonymous Defense Department officials told the BBC and the Associated Press that the execution will be shown publicly. "We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need …" one official said, the quote trailing off before any detail on how. Reporters have since asked YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Meta, Rumble, and Kick whether they would carry a feed; none had responded by publication time.
No recent US execution has been broadcast this way, and the gap between the Pentagon's promise and an actual platform willing to host it is the real story. The government can film an execution. It cannot force a distributor to run one, and every company built on banning graphic violence has an obvious reason to pass.
Calling something "public" is easy before you've lined up anywhere to publish it.