Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan's Execution to Be Made Public, Pentagon Announces

The U.S. government plans to broadcast the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Thursday. The execution by firing squad is scheduled for December 3.

Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 when he opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood medical readiness building in November 2009. He claimed he carried out the attack due to anger over impending deployment to Afghanistan and a desire to protect Islamic leaders.

Hasan was shot by responding officers during the incident and paralyzed from the waist down. He was sentenced to death in 2013. President Donald Trump recently ordered that Hasan be executed by firing squad.

"And we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that this is there's serious consequences for these types of things," Hegseth stated. He added that U.S. soldiers will carry out the firing squad.

Hegseth called the decision to use a firing squad a "no brainer," given Hasan's use of firearms in the attack. "It was a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks, and so he's going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be."

Hasan is expected to be executed at 1:00 p.m. on December 3, the same day of the week and time as his attack. This would mark the first firing squad execution of a U.S. service member since World War II.

During his trial, Hasan admitted to initiating the rampage, stating he had "switched sides" in what he described as America's war with Islam and that he wished to prevent American soldiers from deploying to kill Muslims. Government lawyers indicated Hasan also did not want to deploy to Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense had previously classified the attack as an act of workplace violence rather than terrorism. Hasan is one of four inmates on death row within the U.S. Army's justice system.

The Justice Department had earlier this year announced its adoption of firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration sought to increase and expedite capital punishment cases.