Pete Hegseth's Controversial Pastor Supports Public Execution and 'Prefers Firing Squad' Over Lethal Injection — After Trump Shuts Down Livestreaming Plan
Pete Hegseth's pastor is in his corner when it comes to public execution.
Oct. 19 2026, Published 6:20 p.m. ET
Douglas Wilson, the Idaho pastor who leads the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches and preaches at the Washington church Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends, said he supports the execution of Nidal Hasan and prefers a public firing squad to a private lethal injection, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Wilson said, "I support the execution of Hasan, and prefer public executions to private." He added, "I prefer the older forms, like a firing squad, as opposed to attempts to 'medicalize' it, as with the recent botched execution by injection in Tennessee."
Pete Hegseth's Pastor in Favor of Livestream
Douglas Wilson supported the plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter.
He said he prefers public executions to those "conducted in the recesses of a prison somewhere in the middle of the night," and that "executions in the scriptures were public."
Wilson also noted public executions can "turn into a circus," and that the Pentagon has a responsibility to head off "ghoulish behavior," while admitting, "That will be challenging with a live stream."
Wilson has written for decades that capital punishment is biblically authorized for murderers, rapists, kidnappers, and abortionists, and he has described CREC as seeking a form of Christendom in which civil law reflects that reading.
Pete Hegseth's Livestream Plan Goes Up in Flames
Hegseth previously announced the plan to livestream the execution.
Hegseth belongs to the CREC and attends Christ Kirk DC, where Wilson and other CREC pastors preach. He announced last week that Hasan's December 3 execution at Fort Hood would be livestreamed.
"We'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public," he said at the time. "It was a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks, and so he's going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be."
Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 at Fort Hood in November 2009. A military court sentenced him to death in August 2013.
Trump Calls Off Livestream
Trump made the final call to not livestream the execution.
However, President Trump canceled the livestream on October 15.
"Many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device," he wrote on Truth Social. "He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed."
The families of Hasan's victims will still be able to attend in person, and the Pentagon said Trump and Hegseth remained "completely aligned."
Pete Hegseth's Livestream Drew Criticism Immediately
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Pope Leo XIV and JD Vance both criticized the plan.
The plan drew criticism before Trump made his final decision.
Pope Leo XIV said on the World Day Against the Death Penalty that "the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person," without naming the Pentagon plan.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said, "I don't know that that's actually going to happen," and added, "if it's through livestream, I'm not going to be watching it."
