A US Defense Department official said on Thursday that the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hassan, convicted of carrying out the shooting attack at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, will be broadcast live on the Internet.
“The execution will be broadcast live over the Internet,” the official added, requesting that his identity not be revealed. Details will be announced later.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed on Thursday that Hassan's execution would be "public," according to a video clip published by the Pentagon.
Nidal Hassan, an American of Palestinian origin, opened fire on November 5, 2009 inside a medical center at Fort Hood, in order to prevent soldiers from participating in a war he considered “illegal” in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The attack, which was carried out by what was described as a “lone wolf” linked to Al-Qaeda, led to the killing of 13 people, including 12 soldiers, and the wounding of about 30 people.
Hassan's execution will be the first operation of this type carried out by the US Army since 1961.
Hegseth said to right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec in a video clip posted on the “X” platform and circulated by official Pentagon accounts, “He will be executed by firing squad by a squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we will make sure that people are able to see it and that it is public.”
Hegseth, who was visiting the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, added: “People must realize that there are... serious consequences for such actions.”
According to Amnesty International, at least 17 public executions were recorded last year, including six in Afghanistan and 11 in Iran.
A military jury sentenced Hassan to death in 2013 for carrying out a mass shooting at Fort Hood in an attack inspired by Al Qaeda.
During the trial, the sessions revealed that Hassan was communicating via the Internet with a figure believed to belong to Al-Qaeda, the extremist American preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in 2011 in a raid launched by an American drone in Yemen.
Hurricane Isaias increased in strength today, Thursday, as it was rapidly heading towards the US coast on the Gulf of Mexico, which led to the issuance of mandatory evacuation orders in parts of the state of Florida and the declaration of a state of emergency in the state of Alabama, at a time when meteorologists warned of dangerous rises in sea levels, hurricanes and floods that threaten lives.
The hurricane has already disrupted oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, and forced energy companies to evacuate offshore platforms and halt their operations, according to Reuters.
The National Hurricane Center in the United States said that the first hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean of the 2026 season was accompanied by sustained winds that reached a maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour early this morning.
Expectations indicate that Hurricane Isaias will increase in strength to approach the level of a Category 3 hurricane, accompanied by sustained winds reaching speeds of up to 175 kilometers per hour, tomorrow, Friday, before it reaches the northern part of the Gulf Coast late tomorrow evening or early Saturday morning.
Michael Brennan, director of the US National Hurricane Center, said in a press conference today: “We expect (Isaias) to be a dangerous hurricane when it reaches land. Today is the right day to prepare and be prepared.”
In Florida, officials ordered a mandatory evacuation starting at noon local time today for coastal areas in Okaloosa County.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey also declared a state of emergency in 40 counties, while officials on Dauphin Island issued an evacuation notice for the western part of the island as of this evening.
The US Marine Minerals Administration stated that oil and gas production companies in the US Gulf of Mexico have, to date, halted about 62.89 percent of current oil production and 57.35 percent of current natural gas production.
The administration explained that workers were evacuated from 121 production platforms, representing 32.61 percent of the total 371 manned platforms in the Gulf. She added that workers were also withdrawn from five rigs not equipped with dynamic positioning systems, equivalent to 45.45 percent of the total 11 rigs of this type currently operating in the region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday categorically refused to comment on a new report stating that the US Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, engaged in inappropriate, and possibly illegal, behavior before assuming her position.
Rubio told reporters that he would not discuss the allegations contained in a Wall Street Journal report, which stated that Guilfoyle asked a donor and supporter of US President Donald Trump to pay a $100,000 credit card bill, immediately before her confirmation hearing, and in return promised him to facilitate his access to administration officials, according to what was reported by the Associated Press.
Rubio's statements came before his departure from Greece, where he gave a speech in which he called on European countries to return to their civilizational roots, as he described it.
Rubio explained that he was aware of the Wall Street Journal report, which was published on Wednesday evening, but he does not know if it is true, and he will not address it.
“You act as if what a source tells you is the absolute truth, and then you publish it,” he added, standing on the stairs of his plane, while Guilfoyle, who had come to bid him farewell upon his departure from Greece, watched the situation. But it's not like that. Not so for me. This is not the way we work.”
During a joint press conference with the Greek Foreign Minister on Wednesday, Rubio stressed that he would not address these allegations during his visit to a foreign country, but he added: “Suffice it to say that our embassy here is doing a wonderful job, and our ambassador is doing a strong job here.”
