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WATCH: Vance says he's 'not going to be watching' livestream of Fort Hood shooter's execution

PBS NewsHour Read the original

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12 facts found in the article, 8 checked

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Verified facts

  1. Confirmed The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan in December.

    AI The AP and Reuters results report that the Pentagon said on Thursday that Hasan's firing squad execution, set for December 3 at Fort Hood, will be livestreamed, which matches the core of the claim. Later reports that Vance and Trump expressed doubts do not contradict the Pentagon's announcement.

  2. Confirmed Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others in a shooting spree at Fort Hood military base in 2009.

    AI Multiple results state that Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 in the November 5, 2009 Fort Hood shooting. The BBC result says a jury convicted him of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder, matching the claim's core facts.

  3. Confirmed Trump approved the method of execution by firing squad for Hasan days after a failed attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection in late September.

    AI Multiple results state that Trump approved the firing squad for Nidal Hasan days after Christa Pike's botched lethal injection. The BBC says the Pentagon announced this five days after Pike's botched injections, which places the failed attempt around late September, though no result gives that exact date.

  4. Confirmed The failed execution attempt of Christa Pike pushed Tennessee's governor to halt further executions in that state this year.

    AI Multiple results report that after Christa Pike's failed lethal injection on September 30, Governor Bill Lee halted the remaining executions for the rest of 2026 and ordered a third-party review. The causal link in the claim, that the failure prompted the halt, is supported by the sequence of events described.

  5. Confirmed Vice President JD Vance said, "I don't know that that's actually going to happen," when asked about the Pentagon's livestream plans.

    AI Several results (AP, NYT, and ABC News) quote Vance saying "I don't know that that's actually going to happen" when asked about the Pentagon's plan to livestream the Hasan execution. The ABC version drops the word "that" but has the same meaning.

  6. Confirmed Vance said, "if it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not going to be watching it."

    AI Multiple results report Vice President JD Vance saying that if the execution is livestreamed he would not watch it. The ABC7 result quotes the exact wording "if it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not...", and ABC News quotes the same sentiment with slightly different wording.

  7. Confirmed Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned the decision to livestream Hasan's execution as "a barbaric promotion of a culture of death."

    AI Multiple results quote Archbishop Paul Coakley, USCCB president, calling the plan to livestream Nidal Hasan's execution "a barbaric promotion of a culture of death." The results do not add further detail beyond the quote and the Department of War/Pentagon context.

  8. Confirmed President Donald Trump said Hasan will be getting "the death penalty through firing squad" and called him "a maniac."

    AI Multiple results explicitly quote Trump at a White House event saying Hasan will get "the death penalty through firing squad" and calling him "a maniac." The exact date of the remarks (Oct. 9) and the Columbus Day setting are also reported, though the claim itself does not mention them.

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