A survivor of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting responded to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s assertion that the killer’s firing squad execution will be publicly livestreamed.
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Speaking with BBC Radio 4’s Today on Friday, retired Army Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford said he worries about the “effect” a livestreamed execution could have on young people.
“To show the whole thing without it being censored for the general public, for me personally, I don’t agree with that, but it’s not about my personal belief,” Lunsford said.
He added that survivors of the shooting, as well as the families of victims, should be able to watch the execution and that he plans to attend in person. However, he said it’s “not something you should view for entertainment purposes.”
Lunsford was shot seven times by Nidal Malik Hasan, a former U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, during the November 2009 mass shooting.
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Hasan ultimately killed 13 people and wounded 33 others.
There has not been a public execution in the U.S. since 1936, when Rainey Bethea was hanged in Kentucky for the rape and killing of 70-year-old Lishia Edwards.
Vice President JD Vance attempted to distance himself from Hegseth’s proposal on Friday.
“I’ve seen those announcements,” Vance told reporters. “I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen.”
“If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it,” he continued.
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