Trump cancels Pentagon plans to livestream firing squad execution
Trump cancels Pentagon plans to livestream firing squad execution
On Thursday, Donald Trump called off the Pentagon’s highly controversial plans to livestream a firing squad execution that is still on schedule for December 3. Trump supports the execution of Nidal Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood.
周四，唐纳德·特朗普取消了五角大楼备受争议的计划，即对定于12月3日执行的行刑队处决进行直播。特朗普支持处决尼达尔·哈桑，此人因在2009年胡德堡大规模枪击事件中杀害13人并致伤30多人而被定罪。
But sources close to Trump told CNN that the president was blindsided last week when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the event—which is the first US execution of a soldier since World War II—would be livestreamed. Backlash to the livestream was immediate and crossed political divides.
但接近特朗普的消息人士告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN），上周当国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯宣布将直播这一事件时，总统感到措手不及。这是自二战以来美国首次处决士兵。对直播的强烈反对声浪随即出现，并跨越了政治分歧。
On the morning Trump canceled the plans, an ABC News poll found 8 in 10 Americans were against the livestream, including a 55 percent majority of MAGA Republicans. Insiders told ABC News that Trump feared that “broadcasting the execution could super charge anti-American propaganda or reflect poorly on the US.”
在特朗普取消该计划的当天上午，美国广播公司（ABC）新闻的一项民意调查显示，十分之八的美国人反对直播，其中包括55%的“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）共和党人。知情人士告诉ABC新闻，特朗普担心“广播处决过程可能会助长反美宣传，或对美国形象产生负面影响”。
Privately, Trump had remarked that “he did not initially know that Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down,” CNN reported. As one Army officer appalled by Hegseth’s announcement explained in a separate CNN report, livestreaming the execution “takes away everything America stands for.”
据CNN报道，特朗普私下曾表示，“他起初并不知道哈桑腰部以下瘫痪”。正如一位对赫格塞斯的声明感到震惊的陆军军官在另一篇CNN报道中所解释的那样，直播处决“剥夺了美国所代表的一切”。
“The generational harm caused by allowing troops in uniform to stand in front of a man in a wheelchair and watch him get shot to death is irreparable,” the officer, who was deployed multiple times in the Middle East, told CNN.
这位曾多次被派往中东的军官告诉CNN：“让身穿制服的士兵站在一个坐在轮椅上的人面前，看着他被枪杀，这种代际伤害是无法弥补的。”
On Truth Social, Trump confirmed that Hasan “will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed.” Families of victims will still be able to watch the execution, but the execution will not be broadcast for the public.
在“真实社交”（Truth Social）平台上，特朗普证实哈桑“将按计划被行刑队处决，但该事件不会进行直播”。受害者家属仍能观看处决过程，但处决不会向公众广播。
“I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan but, many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device,” Trump said.
特朗普表示：“我认为向所有人直播处决过程可能是一种强有力的威慑，让世界见证美国如何处理恐怖分子和像哈桑这样的败类，但许多善良且好心的人宁愿不通过直播或任何其他视觉设备观看他死亡。”
Among “well-meaning people” who influenced Trump’s decision was Vice President JD Vance. On Friday, Vance told press that if the livestream happened, “I’m not going to be watching it.”
在影响特朗普决定的“好心人”中，包括副总统JD·万斯。周五，万斯告诉媒体，如果直播真的发生，“我不会去看的”。
Beyond the potential harms of exposing the public to psychological trauma, the Pentagon seemingly had not considered other challenges the livestream might pose, CNN reported. For example, it was unclear if the event could be broadcast anywhere but the Pentagon’s site, since social media and broadcast channels have rules against content depicting graphic violence.
据CNN报道，除了让公众遭受心理创伤的潜在危害外，五角大楼似乎没有考虑直播可能带来的其他挑战。例如，目前尚不清楚该事件是否能在五角大楼网站以外的任何地方播出，因为社交媒体和广播频道都有禁止展示血腥暴力内容的规定。
And for soldiers ordered to join the firing squad, the livestream risked making it possible to identify them, CNN warned. When Hegseth initially announced that the execution would be livestreamed, he was talking to right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
CNN警告称，对于被命令加入行刑队的士兵来说，直播可能会导致他们被识别出来。当赫格塞斯最初宣布将直播处决时，他正在“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航空母舰上与右翼播客杰克·波索比克交谈。
Fresh off welcoming home soldiers who spent months in the Middle East, Hegseth told Posobiec, “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
赫格塞斯刚欢迎完在中东服役数月的士兵回国，便对波索比克说：“我们将确保人们能够观看，确保它是公开的，因为人们需要明白，这类事情会带来严重的后果。”
As of Tuesday, the Department of Defense had backed the secretary, confirming that details of the livestream would be shared soon, and the event would happen as Hegseth had announced. However, Trump emphasized in interviews that it wasn’t up to Hegseth to decide if the livestream would happen the way the secretary of defense prescribed on the podcast.
截至周二，国防部仍支持该部长，确认直播细节将很快公布，且活动将按赫格塞斯宣布的那样进行。然而，特朗普在采访中强调，是否按照国防部长在播客中所述的方式进行直播，并非由赫格塞斯说了算。
“I’ll make a decision, ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision,” Trump said Saturday.
特朗普周六表示：“最终将由我来做决定。我知道军方想做什么，但我们会做出决定。”