President Donald Trump has approved the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former US Army psychiatrist convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced on X.
Hasan was convicted at a 2013 military trial, where he acted as his own lawyer and admitted he was the shooter, the military jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
Secretary of the Army Adam Telle set the execution for Fort Hood on December 3, and under current Army rules the secretary decides time, location and method within 60 to 150 days after presidential approval.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended the death sentence be carried out and told reporters he was "100 percent committed" to ensuring execution for Hasan, according to Pentagon statements.
Pentagon officials said the execution will be public. Hegseth told Real America’s Voice the event would be available to watch and Al Jazeera cited a Defense Department official saying it would be "livestreamed."
Seventeen people were reported killed or wounded in Hasan's attack in 2009, with 13 killed and 32 injured when he opened fire at a Fort Hood processing center, shouting "Allahu akbar," the record states.
Context Reactions And Legal And Historical Implications
Legal experts and advocates warned the presidential approval is only one step and that Hasan could seek habeas corpus relief, potentially delaying any execution, Robin Maher of the Death Penalty Information Center said.
Observers pointed to broader shifts in execution methods and policy. The Justice Department earlier this year made firing squads available for federal executions after a directive from the president, a development noted by analysts.
Some experts tied the timing to recent botched lethal injections, including Tennessee's Christa Pike case, which has renewed debate about methods; Corinna Lain called such botched procedures a factor in states exploring alternatives.
Fordham law professor Deborah Denno said firing squads have been adopted by some as a response to problematic lethal injections and described them as potentially quicker when properly carried out.
Civilian and military history frames the decision. The military's last firing squad execution occurred in 1945, and the last military execution of any method was in 1961, legal scholars noted.
The Death Penalty Information Center says only four people now sit on military death row, all held at Fort Leavenworth. The center also reported a 90 percent decline in death sentences over three decades.
