FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told CNBC on Friday that when it comes to deciding whether to allow the broadcast of the execution of a man convicted of a terror attack in 2009, he will let the person who announced the decision to do so have the final say.
Last week Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that he would allow the execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan—who killed 13 unarmed people and wounded 32 others in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort. Hood—would be made available for public viewing, including on a live stream.
"We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public," he told a right-wing news outlet o Oct. 8. "Because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things."
When asked about this on CNBC Friday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr expressed confidence in the SecDef.
“My understanding is it’s not on broadcast TV, so I don’t think there’s a role for the FCC one way or the other,” he said. “But I trust Secretary Hegseth. He’s implemented the laws and the regulations that are relevant to the Department of War, and I think he’s doing a great job, and I trust that he’s making the right call on these issues.”
Carr added that ultimately we’re going to defer to Secretary Hegseth and his decisions on how to move forward with this.”
The last public state sanctioned public execution in the U.S. was in 1936 when the hanging of a Black man accused of rape drew a crowd of up to 20,000 in Kentucky. The only countries that now allow public viewing of executions include Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, North Korea, and Somalia.
Vice President JD Vance on Friday expressed skepticism that the public execution would go forward adding that “I’m not going to be watching it.”
One Army officer told CNN that Hegseth’s plans are wrong and could cause lasting damage to the country’s military,
“It takes away everything America stands for when we do public executions,” he told told CNN. “The generational harm caused by allowing troops in uniform to stand in front of a man in a wheelchair and watch him get shot to death is irreparable.”
Republicans including Sen. John Curtis of Utah have also come out in opposition On a social media post, Curtis wrote that "a civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment."
President Trump on Saturday said that while he said Hasan deserves the death penalty, he hadn't made up his mind yet on allowing it.
“There are two thoughts: Don’t show it and show it, because you know by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “So I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision.”
The papacy—which opposes the death penalty on moral grounds—weighed in on the news on Friday with Cardinal Parolin stating that such plans for a public execution are unacceptable. “It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to resort to this method in this day and age,” he said.
