Trump clears military firing squad for 2009 Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan

US President Donald Trump has cleared the death penalty by firing squad for Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of murdering 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. The Pentagon announced the decision following a formal recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, marking what will be the first military execution carried out by the United States since 1961.

The 2009 Attack

On November 5, 2009, Hasan opened fire on unarmed troops preparing for deployment at the base's processing center while shouting religious phrases. The violence resulted in 13 deaths, including a pregnant soldier, and left 32 others injured. The rampage stopped when civilian responders shot him multiple times, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Investigators later found he had connected with radical figures like the late cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

Trial And Legal Process

Hasan faced a military court-martial in August 2013 where he chose to represent himself, admitted to the shooting, and was subsequently sentenced to death by a military jury. Since that trial, he has remained imprisoned on military death row at the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed on social media that Defense Secretary Hegseth recommended the firing squad method, and the Secretary of the Army will now determine the exact time and venue for the execution.

Context

Capital punishment by firing squad remains authorized in a small number of US states and requires presidential sign-off for specific military cases. While mass shootings occur frequently across civilian areas in the United States, similar violent attacks inside secure military installations are much rarer.