MADISON, Wis. — New reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details how Congressman Derrick Van Orden volunteered last week to take part in the Fort Hood firing squad execution in Texas, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said would air on a public livestream. Late Tuesday evening, Van Orden appeared to offer himself up by tweeting that he would clear his schedule and “vollenteer.” Wisconsin abolished the death penalty in 1853.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Van Orden Appears to Volunteer for Fort Hood Firing Squad Execution
By: Laura Schulte & Valerie Yurk | 10/9/26
One of Wisconsin’s members of Congress has seemingly volunteered to take part in an execution by firing squad, the first to be approved in the U.S. since World War II.
U.S. Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden sent out a series of posts earlier this week, suggesting he would volunteer to take part in the execution of Nidal Hasan, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas in 2009.
On Oct. 5, Van Orden posted to X, saying he would free up his schedule.
“These radial [sic] Islamist need to get the message: You kill Americans, someone else will be raising your children,” he said in a 7:49 p.m. post.
At 10:18 p.m. the same night, he said “vollenteer” in response to a post from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, which was “Justice.”
When asked for comment about the posts, a spokesperson for Van Orden did not respond.
The U.S. Department of Defense did not respond to questions about whether Van Orden had officially volunteered or would be present for the execution. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Oct. 8 that the execution would be aired on a public livestream.
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In a statement, Cooke said Van Orden’s comments were “frankly disturbing.”
“This is just another example of Derrick Van Orden’s priorities being all wrong,” she said. “Instead of bringing down gas and diesel prices, ending the war in Iran, or actually getting our rural hospitals reopened, he’s focused on participating in a public execution.”
Haley King, a spokesperson for the state Democratic Party, called the post “bizarre.”
“Van Orden, a Congressman in one of the most flippable seats in the country, is spending his time on Twitter volunteering to be a part of a state-sponsored public execution in another state instead of fighting to end a war that has driven up costs for Wisconsinites in the 3rd District,” she said in a statement. “Van Orden frequently demonstrates bizarre online behavior – but this is alarming, even for him.”
