US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution of a former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas will be carried out publicly so the American people can watch.
In an interview with Real America's Voice on Thursday, Hegseth was asked about President Donald Trump's recent order to use a firing squad to execute Nidal Hasan, who was convicted over the 2009 shooting.
The Pentagon chief said he backed the decision and called it "obvious."
"We're going to make sure that people can watch it, that it's public," Hegseth told interviewer Jack Posobiec. "Because people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of behaviors."
Hegseth added that the execution is scheduled to take place at Fort Hood on December 3 at 1:00 pm US Central Time (19:00 GMT).
Hasan was sentenced to death in August 2013 after a military jury convicted him on 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted murder in the rampage.
The former Army major walked into a troop processing center at the Texas base, shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) and opened fire on soldiers waiting for medical care.
Carrying out Hasan's execution required approval from Hegseth and Trump, who cleared the use of a firing squad on Monday.
A Defense Department official told Al Jazeera that Hasan's execution will be "livestreamed," adding that details would be announced soon.
It was unclear from Hegseth's remarks whether military personnel, an audience or US military officials would be present at the execution. US Army regulations require that at least two media outlets be selected as witnesses.
No state or federal execution in the United States has ever been televised. The last public execution in the country took place more than 90 years ago in Owensboro, Kentucky, on August 14, 1936.
The last time the US military carried out an execution by firing squad was in 1945, for desertion during World War II.
Asked for comment on Hegseth's remarks and whether Trump would watch the execution, the White House referred Al Jazeera to the Pentagon.
The Trump administration announced in April that it would add the firing squad to the list of approved methods for federal executions, alongside lethal gas and electrocution.
