The brother of one of the victims of Nidal Malik Hasan has penned a letter to the White House voicing his concerns over controversial plans to livestream the convicted killer’s execution later this year.
Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad in Fort Hood, Texas on December 3. The former US Army major and psychiatrist killed 13 people and injured over 30 others in a November 5, 2009 attack at the Fort Hood military base. 12 of the 13 fatalities were soldiers.
In 2013, Hasan was ultimately convicted by a military jury on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.
Hasan, now 56, will face his death by firing squad in just under two months’ time, with Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth announcing earlier in October that the public would be able to “watch it” on a livestream.
Amid the fierce debate that statement predictably caused, President Donald Trump then told reporters he “absolutely” approved of the plan to allow people to watch live as justice was done. Per NBC News, he later conceded he had yet to make a “final decision”.
Among the soldiers who perished in Hasan’s attack was Army Private First Class (Pfc) Michael Pearson. His brother has now reportedly written to the White House urging them to “reconsider” a livestream of Hasan’s execution.
Kristopher Craig, himself an Army veteran, penned his thoughts in a letter to President Trump and Hegseth, the contents of which were shared exclusively by Newsweek.
Detailing how he’s had to live with his brother’s death and ‘the consequences of what happened that day’ for 17 years, Craig revealed he had considered ‘grief, anger, forgiveness and justice’ but never contemplated ever having to think about his brother’s demise becoming ‘part of another public spectacle’.
“When you speak about justice for the victims of Fort Hood, I ask you to remember that you are speaking about people whose lives were much larger than the circumstances of their deaths,” Craig wrote.
Craig stated he did not want the memory of his brother to be ‘tied to the public broadcast of another human being’s death,’ but rather that he be remembered ‘for the person he was, full of goodness, his hopes, the life he was trying to build, and everything he might have become if he had been allowed to grow older’.
As for the notion of livestreaming Hasan’s execution for public viewing, Craig wrote: “Does witnessing another person’s death make someone less likely to commit violence? Does it make our communities safer? Or does it simply give the public another act of violence to watch, this time carried out by the government?”
He went on to question the ‘purpose’ of the broadcast, given it won’t bring is brother back, nor ‘restore the futures that were stolen from the 13 people’ and nor will it ‘ease the grief’ felt by loved ones.
“There is a difference between accountability and spectacle, and there is a difference between honoring the dead and inviting the public to watch someone else die in their name,” he added.
Later in the letter, Craig wrote: “Do not make the deaths of our loved ones the justification for turning another death into a public event. Whatever happens to Nidal Hasan, let it happen without an audience assembled by the government to witness his final moments.
“I have lived long enough with the knowledge of what violence took from my family. I do not want my brother’s memory used to give violence an audience.
“Michael deserved the chance to live a full life, and he was denied that chance. The least we can do now is remember that his life was worth more than the way it ended. We should not have to watch another human being die to remember the value of the lives we lost.”
The Pentagon, it’s reported, declined to comment when contacted for a statement by Newsweek.
Read more:
