President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of former U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who was sentenced to death for killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. The decision followed a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and was announced by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire on November 5, 2009, at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, where troops were preparing for deployment. He shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack. The shooting killed 12 active-duty soldiers and one retired serviceman, while 32 people were wounded.
A military jury convicted Hasan in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of premeditated attempted murder and sentenced him to death. He represented himself during the court-martial and acknowledged responsibility for the attack, saying he wanted to prevent soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan.
Hasan remains imprisoned at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Secretary of the Army will determine the date and location of the execution. If carried out, it would be the first execution by the U.S. military since 1961 and the first military firing-squad execution in decades.
