Washington DC - Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona recently called for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to be removed after the official revealed plans to hold a public execution.
On Friday, Kelly shared a lengthy X post in which he criticized Hegseth's announcement earlier that day that Americans would have public access to view the execution of Nidal Hasan – a former Army psychiatrist who was convicted of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 – on December 3.
"There is no doubt that Nidal Hasan is a murderer who took the lives of 13 people and injured dozens. He should face justice for that. But a public execution? Here in the United States?" Kelly wrote.
" It’s the kind of thing Iran and the Taliban do. Is this who we want to be associated with?
"Pete Hegseth's campaign of 'maximum lethality' and his comments about 'killing people,' and now his desire to publicly execute a prisoner indicate to me that his expiration date in this job has long passed," Kelly added. "He should be removed immediately."
Plans for the execution by firing squad was first announced by the Pentagon on Monday, which noted that President Donald Trump had signed off on the idea presented by Hegseth.
In defense of the move to make it public, Hegseth argued "people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things."
Pete Hegseth faces backlash from Dems, support from MAGA
Hegseth's bizarre plans have been met with heavy criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described it as "barbaric," and urged Americans to "push back on this."
Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah compared it to the fall of the Roman empire, arguing, "A civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment."
"Secretary Hegseth's plan to livestream the Fort Hood execution risks feeding that appetite. The victims deserve justice administered with solemnity," he added.
One group that has shown unwavering support for his plans are members of President Trump's MAGA base on social media, who have been celebrating the execution of a "terrorist jihadist," and praising Hegseth as the greatest secretary in US history over the move.
One X user in the comments section of Kelly's post argued, "Abandoning public executions is one of the ways the West went wrong," adding that Hegseth bringing them back will be a "course correction."