Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan Set for Execution by Firing Squad

Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army Major convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, is scheduled for execution by firing squad on December 3. This marks the first U.S. military execution in 65 years.

President Donald Trump has approved the execution, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. The date was announced shortly after the approval. Hasan is set to be executed at the same military base where the massacre occurred. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle confirmed the execution date.

Hasan claimed the attack was motivated by anger over an impending deployment to Afghanistan and a desire to protect Islamic and Taliban leaders from U.S. troops. He was sentenced to death in 2013 following the 2009 shooting.

During his trial, Hasan stated he had "switched sides" in the conflict between America and Islam, admitting he opened fire to prevent U.S. soldiers from being deployed to kill Muslims. Government lawyers also indicated that Hasan did not wish to be deployed to Afghanistan. The Department of Defense had classified the incident as workplace violence rather than terrorism.

Hasan's execution will be the second carried out by firing squad since 2010. While Trump's approval triggers procedural steps, Hasan could potentially delay the execution through habeas corpus appeals in the federal court system, as noted in an article in Army Lawyer magazine.

The U.S. military has not carried out an execution since 1961. Hasan is one of four inmates currently on death row within the U.S. Army's justice system.

The Justice Department announced earlier this year that it would adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration sought to expedite capital punishment cases. The department also reauthorized the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital. These actions followed a moratorium under the Biden administration, during which 37 federal death sentences were commuted to life in prison. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the Trump administration would enforce the law and support victims.

Historically, at least 144 civilian prisoners have been executed by shooting in America since 1608, primarily in Utah. Four such executions have occurred since 1977. Brad Sigmon, who killed his ex-girlfriend's parents, was executed by firing squad in South Carolina in March of the previous year. Five states currently permit executions by firing squad: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah.