Trump Approves Firing Squad For Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan After 17 Years

US President Donald Trump has approved the execution of former Army Major and psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad, clearing the way for the first US military execution in more than six decades if the punishment is carried out. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the firing squad, and Trump approved it, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced on Monday.

“The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution,” Parnell said in a post on X, adding, “Judgment day for Hasan has finally come.” The decision came more than 17 years after Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, in one of the deadliest attacks on a US military installation.

Hasan walked into a medical facility at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, and opened fire on soldiers preparing for deployment. The attack killed 13 people, including 12 active-duty service members and a retired serviceman, and wounded 32 others. Hasan was shot by police while being arrested and was left partially paralysed.

Hasan was later court-martialled and represented himself during the proceedings. In August 2013, a military jury found him guilty of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of premeditated attempted murder and unanimously sentenced him to death. During the trial, Hasan said he had carried out the attack to prevent US soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan and killing fellow Muslims.

Hasan, now 56, has been held on death row at the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His case has remained within the military justice system, under which a death sentence imposed by court-martial requires presidential approval before it can be carried out.

Trump’s decision does not itself set an execution date. The Army secretary will determine when and where the execution takes place, while further legal proceedings could potentially delay it. Four men, including Hasan, are currently on the US military’s death row, according to reporting on the military justice system.

If carried out, Hasan’s execution would be the first US military execution since 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth after being convicted of raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old girl. The last known US military execution by firing squad took place in 1945, when Army Private Eddie Slovik was executed by firing squad for desertion during World War II.

The choice of a firing squad is also notable because the method remains rare in the United States. The Trump administration expanded federal execution options in April to include firing squads, electrocution and gas asphyxiation, citing difficulties associated with lethal injection. The move came amid renewed scrutiny of lethal injection after a failed execution attempt in Tennessee last month.