10/13/26: Hegseth Floats Livestreamed Execution, Eugene Debs Lessons From The Grave

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the upcoming execution of Nidal Hasan, the perpetrator of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, would be carried out by firing squad and livestreamed to the public. Hasan, who is now paraplegic and in his 60s, is scheduled for execution on December 3rd. Hegseth framed the decision in stark terms: “Execution by firing squad. Army major betrays his country. Radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood. Of course we're going to do it at Fort Hood. We're going to do it on a Thursday. We're going to do it at 1 o'clock, which is when he did it. And it's going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad.” When asked about Hasan’s final requests, Hegseth replied, “Don't care. We'll see him on December 3rd.”

The announcement provoked immediate backlash, including from within the administration. Vice President JD Vance publicly distanced himself, saying, “I don't know that that's actually going to happen,” and added that if it did, “I'm not going to be watching it.” President Trump reportedly called advisors privately expressing misgivings, having been “deluged with negative input from a bipartisan chorus of lawmakers.” The hosts of Breaking Points argued that Hegseth was freelancing, and that the proposal revealed more about his political desperation than about justice.

The Spectacle and Its Historical Precedent