Nidal Hasan to be executed by firing squad in first US military case since WWII

The Pentagon announced that former US Army Major Nidal Hasan will be executed by firing squad. It will be the first US military execution by that method since the end of World War Two.

Hasan killed 13 unarmed US soldiers and wounded 32 others during an attack at Fort Hood, Texas, on 5 November 2009.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the execution and President Donald Trump approved it. The Army secretary will set the time and place.

Attack at Fort Hood medical centre

The shooting took place in a crowded medical building where soldiers awaiting deployment were receiving check-ups and vaccines. The killings were the deadliest non-combat attack ever carried out at an American military base.

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist from Virginia, admitted during his 2013 court-martial that he was the gunman and apologised for “any mistakes”. He said he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Execution requires further review

Hasan is one of four inmates on the US military’s death row. Military law requires presidential approval, appellate review and a final ruling on the execution’s legality before it can proceed.

The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but it was reinstated the following year by an executive order signed under President Ronald Reagan.

Firing-squad executions remain uncommon in the United States. South Carolina used the method last year in the state’s first such execution and the first in the country in 15 years. Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah also permit firing squads.

Donald Trump supports the federal death penalty and restored its use through an executive order on the first day of his presidency in January 2025. Under his predecessor, Joe Biden, the Justice Department had imposed a moratorium on federal executions.