Fort Hood survivor wants to see mass shooter die — but not Hegseth’s way: ‘Look at my eyes’

A survivor of the Fort Hood mass shooting says he looks forward to attending the execution of the gunman whom he watched gun down his colleagues nearly 17 years ago, but feels uneasy about the Pentagon’s plan to livestream it for the public.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the execution of Nidal Hasan would be broadcast online. Hasan, who described the shooting as an act of jihad, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, the Texas Army base where he killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in the November 2009 rampage. Alonzo Lunsford, who served in the Army from 1990 until his retirement in 2013, was a sergeant stationed at Fort Hood when Hasan opened fire. Hasan shot Lunsford seven times, including in the head and stomach, and Lunsford witnessed the gunman kill several colleagues who had become close friends. Lunsford plans to attend Hasan’s execution — the first military execution by firing squad since World War II — telling ABC News he wants to face the convicted gunman one last time."I want him to be able to look at my eyes and to let him understand I won't be defeated, can't be defeated. I am no longer a victim, his victim. I am a survivor," Lunsford said.Nidal Hasan, a former U.S. Army Major and psychiatrist, is set to have the first military execution in more than 65 years in December, which some survivors feel uneasy about (Reuters)Lunsford welcomed President Donald Trump’s approval to proceed with Hasan’s execution, saying he believes it could finally bring a sense of closure to him and other survivors of the attack. He also supports the administration’s decision to use a firing squad.“It's how he shot us,” Lunsford said.However, Lunsford is uncomfortable with the Pentagon’s plan to make the execution available for anyone to watch online. He believes the broadcast should be restricted to survivors of the shooting and the families of those killed."I don't want this to be viewed upon as a spectacle, like a pay-per-view event, or like going to a basketball tournament," he said.Lunsford also questioned the message a public livestream would send to the rest of the world, arguing that the U.S. should set a moral example rather than turn an execution into a public event."We're not trying to meet a standard – we're trying to set a standard for the free world," he said.Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in November 2009, after embracing a self-radicalized jihadist ideology and opposing U.S. military deployments in Muslim-majority countries (2009)Dayna Ferguson, another survivor of the Fort Hood shooting, said she was surprised by the announcement that Hasan's execution would be livestreamed. However, she believes the decision reflects a longstanding history of documenting death and warfare."It's not completely shocking, given that death and war have historically always been documented through photographs and video. But it's just not something I expected to hear," she told ABC News.Ferguson was 21 and serving as an Army specialist when Hasan opened fire. She was shot three times in her arm, shoulder and thigh. She credits a birth defect with helping her survive, as one of the bullets ricocheted off her stomach and into her thigh rather than causing a potentially fatal injury."I hadn't really thought about if I agree with the decisions being made – but it doesn't make a difference in what happens to him," Ferguson added.Ferguson left the Army after completing her four-year enlistment and is still working out arrangements to attend the execution. Despite the injuries and trauma she experienced during the shooting, she said she remains grateful to have survived."I've been hurt worse in life than by Nidal. Sometimes you're just the collateral damage in someone else's warfare in their own mind," she said.In this photo from November 10, 2009, a fallen soldiers memorial is seen in front of the podium where the memorial service that then-President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attended to honor the 13 victims (AFP/Getty)The criticism extends beyond survivors of the shooting, with Republican and Democratic lawmakers questioning whether livestreaming an execution is appropriate.Rep. Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican and senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he supports Hasan's death sentence but opposes broadcasting the execution publicly."I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do," Scott wrote on X. "America is better than that."Rep. Adam Smith, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, also criticized the plan, arguing that a public broadcast would undermine the seriousness of the legal system."We are a democratic country and should take the rule of law seriously, not turn it into a spectacle," Smith wrote in a statement.