USAupdated 1h ago2 min read
Trump Approved Pentagon Firing Squad Execution Of Nidal Malik Hasan After Fort Hood Conviction
Trump approved firing-squad execution for Nidal Hasan. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 at Fort Hood in 2009.
Trump greenlights firing squad
Donald Trump approved the execution by U.S. Army firing squad of former Army major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Pentagon announced after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the method.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “The Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, recommended—and President Donald J. Trump has approved—the execution by firing squad of the U.S. Army of the United States,” and he added that “The Secretary of the Army will now be responsible for determining the date and place of the execution.”
The Pentagon said Hasan was convicted for the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, where he killed 13 people and wounded 32 others.
Army policy requires executions to happen within 150 days of presidential approval but no sooner than 60 days.
The sources also said Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 and was sent to a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
Attack details and courtroom
The sources said Hasan opened fire at the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Center on Nov. 5, 2009, and CNN said he killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
DW said Hasan was an Army psychiatrist with the rank of major when he opened fire inside the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers were awaiting deployment or returning from missions abroad.
The Guardian said Hasan was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013 and that he chose to conduct his own defense during the trial but called no witnesses and gave no testimony.
The Hill said Hasan represented himself during his 2013 trial and that he said in his opening statement “the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter.”
DW said Hasan pleaded not guilty and acted as his own attorney during the proceedings, and it said the tribunal sentenced him to death on August 28, 2013 by unanimous vote.
Scheduling, witnesses, and legacy
Army regulation dictates that at least two media outlets should be selected to witness the execution, while the time and place of the execution have not yet been announced. DW said the Secretary of the Army will now be responsible for determining the date and place of the execution, and it said Hasan is detained at Fort Leavenworth military prison in Kansas. The Daily Wire said the Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the public, “Judgement day for Hasan has finally come,” and it described the decision as a step toward the first military execution of a U.S. service member in more than six decades.
The Guardian said Hasan would become the first U.S. soldier to be executed by the U.S. military in more than 60 years, and it said the court that convicted Hasan was told he was opposed to the U.S. military’s occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The announcement of Hasan’s execution came after it reported in June that the Army had been planning military executions, and the plan was dubbed “Operation Resolute Justice” and issued internally in February.