Trump approves firing-squad execution for Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan

President Donald Trump has approved death by US Army firing squad for Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people, the Pentagon announced on Monday (https://nypost.com/2026/10/05/us-news/trump-approves-firing-squad-for-fort-hood-killer-nidal-hasans-execution-after-pete-hegseths-recommendation/).

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on X that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had recommended the execution method and that Trump had approved it. “Judgment day for Hasan has finally come,” Parnell wrote, adding that the Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution (https://foxnews.com/politics/trump-clears-way-fort-hood-terrorist-face-army-firing-squad-nearly-17-years-after-massacre).

Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, opened fire on November 5, 2009, killing 13 people - 12 US service members and one civilian - and wounding 32 others. A military jury convicted him in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and sentenced him to death (https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/who-is-nidal-hasan-what-is-the-2009-fort-hood-shooting-case-and-why-is-he-facing-execution-269478/).

The US Supreme Court rejected Hasan’s final appeal in March 2025. Under the military justice system, a military death sentence cannot be carried out without presidential approval (https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/who-is-nidal-hasan-what-is-the-2009-fort-hood-shooting-case-and-why-is-he-facing-execution-269478/). If the execution proceeds, it would be the first by the US military since 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was executed (https://sundayguardianlive.com/world/who-is-nidal-hasan-what-is-the-2009-fort-hood-shooting-case-and-why-is-he-facing-execution-269478/).