On Monday, Archbishop Timothy Broglio condemned the Pentagon's proposal to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, but other Christians are supporting the public execution because of its roots in the Bible. The clash has emerged as one of the clearest religious fault lines in the debate over Hasan's scheduled December execution. Catholic leaders, including Pope Leo XIV and Archbishops Paul Coakley and Broglio, have denounced the proposed broadcast, while Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress and others argue that making the execution public would reinforce the sanctity of life and serve as a moral lesson.
The Fort Hood attack came at the height of the global War on Terrorism, and investigators concluded that Hasan was motivated by Islamic extremist beliefs. Investigators cited his pre-attack email exchanges with Anwar al-Awlaki, the al-Qaeda-linked cleric who later praised the massacre, as well as Hasan's own statements. During his court-martial, Hasan said he had acted in defense of the Taliban, described himself as having "switched sides" and acknowledged being the shooter.
Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others during the November 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, one of the deadliest shootings ever carried out on a U.S. military base. His execution by firing squad is scheduled for December 3. Much of the controversy surrounding Hasan's scheduled execution now centers on whether the public should be allowed to watch.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has argued that making the execution public would demonstrate that there are serious consequences for such acts, while critics have likened the proposal to tactics employed by terrorist groups and authoritarian regimes. Newsweek reached out to the White House, Pentagon and Vatican on Monday for comment. On Monday, Broglio, the head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, delivered one of the strongest denunciations yet of the proposed livestream.
"Do we really want to imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries?" Broglio asked in a statement. "The crime committed by Nidal Malik Hasan was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose?" Broglio renewed the Catholic Church's opposition to capital punishment and raised concerns about military personnel who would be tasked with carrying out the sentence. "Has the potential moral injury, which the members of the firing squad might experience, been considered?" he asked.
The archbishop later instructed Catholics assigned to the firing squad to seek exemption. "As I would in the case of a procured abortion, I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church," Broglio said. Separately, Broglio criticized the proposed livestream, questioning whether exposing young people to the execution could have lasting consequences and suggesting the broadcast could damage the reputation of the U.S. military.
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