US President Donald Trump announced that he has approved the public execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in his 2009 attack at Fort Hood. While this marks the first planned public execution in the US since 1936, the decision has sparked controversy.
"I DON'T CARE HOW HE DIES"
US President Donald Trump answered questions from reporters on the White House lawn before departing for New York for campaign events. Trump argued that former army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the attack, deserves the death penalty.
Commenting on Hasan's execution by firing squad, Trump stated, “The guy is a madman. I don't care how he dies, as long as he dies.”
When asked by a reporter whether he had approved the live broadcast of Hasan's execution, Trump replied, “Of course I approved it.”
13 PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE FORT HOOD ATTACK
Nidal Hasan, a former army psychiatrist, caused the deaths of 13 people and the injury of 32 others in an attack he carried out at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in November 2009. Following the attack, Hasan was sentenced to death by a military jury.
Hasan's execution is scheduled to take place on December 3. According to a statement by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the execution is planned to be public.
HEGSETH: IT WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had announced that Hasan's execution by firing squad would be viewable by the public. In his statement regarding the decision, Hegseth said, “We will ensure people can watch this. It will be open to the public. Because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these kinds of things.”
The last public execution in the US was carried out in the state of Kentucky in 1936. Rainey Bethea, a Black man convicted of raping a white woman, was executed by hanging. The last execution by firing squad in the country was carried out in 1945.
TRUMP'S REACTION TO THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE DECISION
During his remarks, Trump also reiterated his criticism regarding not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Evaluating the awarding of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to former International Criminal Court judge Navi Pillay, Trump stated that he did not know Pillay and described her as a “mysterious person.” Trump said, “I have never heard of this person. Nobody has.”
Reacting to the award decision, Trump targeted Norway and the committee with the following words:
“This is an indelible stain on the country of Norway and the people who made such a shameful and disgraceful decision. The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democratic and truly enemies of civilization. Norway, we will not forget this.”
News Source: 12punto
