The public will be able to watch the execution of a former US Army major by firing squad, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said. A Defense Department official told the BBC the execution of Nidal Hasan, who shot dead 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, would be livestreamed. It is believed it would be the first public execution in the US in almost a century. The decision to livestream it is “unprecedented in the modern era” and “on uncertain legal terrain,” said John Mills, a lawyer who works with inmates sentenced to death. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said. “People need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.” The Pentagon announced earlier this week it would execute Hasan in the first military execution in more than 60 years.