President Donald Trump has approved the use of a United States Army firing squad to carry out the execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, the Pentagon announced on Monday. The decision, disclosed by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, removes the last major obstacle to carrying out a death sentence imposed more than a decade ago.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood in Texas in November 2009, killing 12 US service members and one civilian and wounding 32 others, according to the Pentagon. He was convicted in 2013 of killing 13 people during the shooting at the Texas Army base.
The path to execution
Hasan's death sentence survived multiple rounds of military and civilian appeals over the years. With those legal challenges exhausted, the case turned on a single remaining step: under the military justice system, the president must approve before a military death sentence can be carried out.
That approval has now been given. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended the execution, and President Trump approved it, Parnell wrote in a post on X announcing the decision. "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come," the Pentagon spokesman wrote.
What happens next
The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution, according to the Pentagon statement. No date has been announced so far.
If carried out, the execution would be one of the most high-profile military executions in recent history, coming nearly 17 years after the attack that killed 13 people. The Pentagon has framed the move as part of the administration's broader push to restore capital punishment at the federal level, with the Justice Department also readopting the firing squad as an approved method of execution.
Sources: Trump approves firing squad for Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan's execution after Pete Hegseth's recommendation; Trump clears way for Fort Hood terrorist to face Army firing squad nearly 17 years after massacre
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood in Texas in November 2009, killing 12 US service members and one civilian and wounding 32 others, according to the Pentagon. He was convicted in 2013 of killing 13 people during the shooting at the Texas Army base.
The path to execution
Hasan's death sentence survived multiple rounds of military and civilian appeals over the years. With those legal challenges exhausted, the case turned on a single remaining step: under the military justice system, the president must approve before a military death sentence can be carried out.
That approval has now been given. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended the execution, and President Trump approved it, Parnell wrote in a post on X announcing the decision. "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come," the Pentagon spokesman wrote.
What happens next
The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution, according to the Pentagon statement. No date has been announced so far.
If carried out, the execution would be one of the most high-profile military executions in recent history, coming nearly 17 years after the attack that killed 13 people. The Pentagon has framed the move as part of the administration's broader push to restore capital punishment at the federal level, with the Justice Department also readopting the firing squad as an approved method of execution.
Sources: Trump approves firing squad for Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan's execution after Pete Hegseth's recommendation; Trump clears way for Fort Hood terrorist to face Army firing squad nearly 17 years after massacre
