Army Major Nidal Hasan, convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, will be executed by firing squad at the Texas military base where he killed 13 people, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Thursday.
Hegseth stated that the execution will be public, a decision aimed at underscoring the severe consequences for such acts. "We're going to make sure it's going to make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things," Hegseth said in an interview with Real America's Voice.
The defense chief also emphasized the symbolic importance of carrying out the execution at Fort Hood. "Army major betrays his country, radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood. Of course we're doing it at Fort Hood," he stated.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow service members at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. He was convicted in 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, and subsequently sentenced to death. The massacre remains one of the deadliest shootings at a U.S. military installation.
Hegseth indicated the execution would take place on a Thursday at 1 p.m., mirroring the time of the attack, and would be carried out by soldiers with rifles.
