President Donald Trump has approved a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to execute convicted Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by U.S. Army firing squad. The execution, scheduled for December 3, would mark the first military execution carried out in more than 60 years.
The Pentagon announced the decision regarding former Army officer and psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at a readiness processing center on Fort Hood in Texas on November 5, 2009. Thirteen people were killed, including a pregnant soldier, and 32 others were injured during the attack. Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell shared the decision on social media, writing that Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.
Parnell stated that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the death by U.S. Army firing squad for the convicted terrorist, and President Donald J. Trump approved the measure.
The 2009 Fort Hood Attack And Court-Martial
The attack unfolded in a crowded medical building where deploying soldiers were awaiting check-ups and vaccines. Hasan used a semi-automatic handgun to carry out what remains the deadliest non-combat attack on an American military base in history. Former Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, a two-time combat veteran, was shot four times during the incident and spent nearly a year recovering in various hospitals, recalling later that the gunman looked him straight in the eyes before firing. The assailant was born in northern Virginia to Palestinian parents and became increasingly radicalized prior to the attack, referring to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as illegal and describing the violence as part of the jihad or holy war. During the incident, he shouted “Allahu Akbar” while opening fire. He was eventually shot and wounded by authorities at the scene, leaving him partially paralyzed.
During his 2013 court-martial, Hasan admitted to the shooting and stated he carried out the attack in support of the Taliban. When presiding Judge Col. Tara Osborn asked him whom he was defending during a request to delay proceedings for a new legal strategy, Hasan replied, The leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban.
A military jury convicted him in August 2013 and recommended a death sentence. The court found that the violence was inspired by the ideology of Al-Qaeda. Hasan chose to represent himself during the trial without calling witnesses or contesting the charges, while his court-appointed defense attorneys expressed the view that he actively sought the enforcement of the death penalty. He was subsequently transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he remains one of four inmates on the US military’s death row and has expressed a desire to have died during the attack to achieve martyrdom.
Military Law And Execution History
Under military law, a capital sentence requires presidential approval, appellate review, and a final judgment on its legality. The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but an executive order issued the following year by President Ronald Reagan reinstated it. Military executions are governed differently than state-level capital punishment, with 27 states, the federal government, and the military maintaining capital punishment as a legally available option. Firing squads remain uncommon across the United States, though South Carolina carried out an execution by firing squad last year—a first for the state and the first time the method was used nationally in 15 years—while four other states, including Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah, also permit the method.
If carried out by a firing squad, the event will mark the first such method for the U.S. Army since January 31, 1945, when Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik was executed by an army firing squad in France for desertion during World War II. The last execution carried out by the entire U.S. military occurred in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging at the gallows in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after being convicted of raping and attempting to kill a young girl.
Execution Date Set For December 3
The exact time and place of the execution are scheduled to be set by the Secretary of the Army, with the Pentagon announcing the date for December 3 at Fort Hood in Texas.
Despite the approval, outlets note that the execution could still face legal hurdles or attempts to halt it, pointing to similar historical cases from 2008. Meanwhile, defense attorneys from past proceedings have suggested that Hasan’s own defense strategy during his trial indicated a desire to see the capital sentence carried out.
