Trump Backs Public Firing Squad Execution for Fort Hood Killer

President Trump on Friday expressed his support for the Department of War's decision to execute Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan by firing squad. Hasan, an Army major, killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in a 2009 shooting rampage at the Texas military base.

"We're giving a man the death penalty who killed 14 soldiers a couple of years ago," the president commented, referencing the attack. "Death penalty through firing squad — and, uh, and he deserves it. Killed and wounded many, many people. Maniac."

The Pentagon recently confirmed that Hasan's execution by firing squad is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood and will be livestreamed to the public.

"We're gonna 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," one official stated, emphasizing the public nature of the execution. "Army major betrays his country, radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood. Of course we're doing it at Fort Hood."

During the Nov. 5, 2009, attack, Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire inside a medical building shouting "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great." He later confessed that the shooting was intended to halt U.S. forces from entering Afghanistan and harming Muslims.

Hasan was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in a 2013 trial, resulting in a death sentence.

The last military execution by firing squad took place during World War II.