A coalition of 72 retired senior U.S. military officers, including 45 generals, 12 admirals, and multiple former top legal advocates for the armed forces, has issued a public open letter calling on the White House, Congress, and the American public to block the Pentagon’s controversial plan to livestream the execution of convicted Fort Hood mass killer Nidal Hasan.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, carried out the deadliest non-combat attack on a U.S. military installation in history in 2009, when he opened fire on unarmed service members at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding dozens more. During his trial, Hasan admitted to the shooting, claiming he acted to protect Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from U.S. military operations. He was left paralyzed after being shot by first responders during the attack and now uses a wheelchair. His execution by firing squad is scheduled for December 3.
The Pentagon, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, announced the livestream plan last week, which would mark the first public execution held in the United States in nearly 100 years. While former President Donald Trump stated publicly last week that he “absolutely” supports the plan, CBS News — the U.S. media partner of the BBC — has reported that multiple senior administration officials now oppose the proposal, and no final decision had been issued by the president as of this week.
The retired military leaders, whose ranks include decorated veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and several officers who retired during Trump’s first presidential term, clarified in their letter that they do not oppose capital punishment for Hasan. Instead, they argue that broadcasting the execution to a global public audience violates fundamental American values laid out in the U.S. Constitution.
They contend that a public livestream would transform a solemn, grave punishment into a sensational spectacle for morbidly curious onlookers. The letter emphasizes that the exploitative broadcast, which they say erodes basic human dignity, will tarnish the honor of both the U.S. military that carries it out and the nation that permits it to go forward. Most notably, the officers warn that a public execution will play directly into the narrative of jihadist extremists, allowing American adversaries to frame Hasan as a martyr, stoke anti-U.S. hatred globally, and ultimately put American service members and civilians at greater risk of future attacks.
The list of high-profile signatories includes retired Major General Tony Taguba, who led the Army’s landmark investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison; retired Air Force Colonel Moe Davis, a former Guantanamo Bay detention camp prosecutor who has publicly condemned waterboarding as torture; former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Major General; and retired Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to achieve the rank of three-star general in the U.S. Army.
The plan has already drawn widespread bipartisan criticism from lawmakers across the political spectrum, as well as condemnation from religious leaders, legal scholars, and human rights experts. The pushback from dozens of retired top military officers adds significant new weight to the growing opposition to the livestream proposal ahead of Trump’s expected final decision.