JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – Jacksonville residents are reacting after the Pentagon announced plans to make the execution of a former Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood open to the public.
Nidal Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in the 2009 shooting at the Texas military base.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.”
The Pentagon confirmed those plans Thursday but has not said how the public would be able to watch.
The Army says the execution will take place at Fort Hood. It is scheduled for Dec. 3 and would be the first U.S. military firing-squad execution since World War II.
Tim Williams, a Jacksonville resident and military veteran, said he agrees with the execution but has concerns about making it public.
“It bothers me that it’s livestreamed. It does actually — it could be a springboard to someone else doing it,” Williams said.
Jacksonville resident Jakob Parks also agrees with the punishment but questioned the decision to make it public.
“That person definitely deserves something like that,” Parks said. “They disgraced our country in uniform, to be a major in the military and perform an act like that? I agree with it. I will say the public showing of it might be a little much… obviously it’s changed since the ’40s.”
Another Jacksonville resident, Thomas Tyler, said he believes firing-squad executions should remain in the past.
“Entirely too long for us to start doing it again,” Tyler said. “But I mean, I guess they’re trying to reinforce the rules, make it stricter, so people don’t think it’s okay to do certain things.”
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