Criticism of Pentagon plan to broadcast live firing squad execution of ex-US soldier

Criticism of Pentagon plan to broadcast live firing squad execution of ex-US soldier

The US Defense Department's plan to broadcast live the execution of a former US Army major by fire has faced a growing wave of criticism.

In 2009, Nidal Hassan killed 13 unarmed militants at the Fort Hood military base and is scheduled to be executed by firing squad in December.

Tom Tillis, a Republican senator, described public executions as "absolutely abhorrent" and said it was what "depressive dictatorships" like Iran and Afghanistan were doing.

Alonzo Lunsford, a sergeant who survived seven bullets fired by Nidal Hassan, told the BBC that the death penalty should not be seen as a form of entertainment.

The last public execution in the United States was in 1936.