Fort Hood Massacre Survivor Has a Warning for Americans Planning to Watch Execution

Alonzo Lunsford, a former Army staff sergeant who survived the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, has warned against treating the planned livestream of Nidal Hasan’s execution as entertainment.

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at the time, killed 13 people and wounded 32 others, including Lunsford, who was shot seven times during the attack on November 5, 2009, at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center.

Lunsford recalled watching Hasan kill a colleague before the shooter turned on him. He fell to the floor, played dead, and was shot again after escaping outside. He has since accepted living with lifelong pain and found purpose in coaching basketball, mentoring youth, and supporting mental health.

The U.S. government plans to execute Hasan by firing squad on December 3, 2026, at a Fort Hood firing range, marking the Army’s first such execution in 86 years. It will be livestreamed for public viewing.

Lunsford supports the execution and intends to witness it. He has forgiven Hasan because of his faith, stating, “The weird thing about it, I’ve forgiven him because my faith does not allow me to heal and continue unless I forgive that man.”

He opposes treating the event as a spectacle, saying, “It’s not a spectacle… There’s nothing glorified in the smell of human flesh, blood and gunpowder. It’s a smell you will never forget. It’s a taste that you will never forget. That’s not something you sit around and say, hey, let’s get some popcorn and look at this execution… We as a people, we’re better than that. This ain’t no country where we do public beheadings and stonings and think it’s fine.”

He added, “This is not somewhere you all start throwing some meat on the grill, get outside and say, hey, we’re gonna watch them unalive this guy by firing squad. Don’t do that. Don’t do that because when you do that, you’re dishonoring those that made the supreme sacrifice, those who are no longer here. Those are heroes.”

Lunsford plans to look Hasan in the eyes, saying, “I want to look at him in his eyes. I want him to see me — man to man. My message to him: Dude, you failed… I go where I wanna go, when I wanna go, how I wanna go. With no fear… You don’t have that luxury.”

He hopes Hasan repents, stating, “I want to give him the opportunity to, the last words out of his mouth is to apologize and repent. And be held accountable for his sins and for his crime. And I will be OK with that.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended the livestream, saying people need to understand there are serious consequences for such acts. Vice President JD Vance has expressed doubt that the livestream will actually occur and said he has no intention of watching.

Rep. Austin Scott supports the death penalty but said live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. Sen. Thom Tillis called public streaming “beyond disgusting.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposed both the execution and the livestream. Counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt warned that the video could be used in radicalization propaganda.