Only 2 countries held known public executions last year. The U.S. is preparing for its first in 90 years.

October 9, 2026 / 2:47 PM EDT / CBS News

When Nidal Hasan is put to death by firing squad during a public livestream, he will become the first person to be publicly executed in the United States in nearly a century.

The Defense Department announced Thursday the execution of Hasan, the ex-Army major who was convicted in the 2009 killings of 13 people at Fort Hood, will be livestreamed on Dec. 3. Hasan is paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the back by police who responded to the mass shooting.

"He's gonna get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Jack Posobiec on Real America's Voice. "We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public — because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things."

The decision has generated widespread, bipartisan criticism.

The list of countries that still carry out public executions, whether on video or in a public place, is very short and almost entirely countries accused of human rights violations.

Afghanistan and Iran are the only two known countries to execute anyone publicly…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/