WASHINGTON — Nidal Hasan, the former U.S. Army major who carried out the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, will be executed by firing squad, officials announced on Monday. The decision marks a historic shift in military justice, as it will be the first time the U.S. armed forces have employed the method since the conclusion of World War II.
Defense Department chief spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed that the order for execution by firing squad was recommended by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and subsequently approved by President Donald Trump. Acting Army Secretary Adam R. Telle is now tasked with establishing the time and location for the execution.
“Judgment day for Hasan has finally come,” Parnell said in a statement.
Hasan, a former psychiatrist, stunned the nation on Nov. 5, 2009, when he opened fire at the Fort Hood soldier readiness center. Shouting “Allahu akbar,” he killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. During his 2013 trial, where he acted as his own defense counsel, prosecutors argued that Hasan was driven by a desire to avoid deployment to Afghanistan and a self-proclaimed duty to jihad. Although a Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation concluded that he had acted alone and was not part of a larger terrorist cell, Army prosecutor Col. Steve Henricks described his actions as the creation of a “personal kill zone” within the military installation.
Hasan was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in 2013, ultimately receiving a sentence of death.
The decision to move forward with a firing squad signals a rare and aggressive enforcement of military capital punishment. While the military maintains the authority to carry out death sentences, the process has been famously stalled for decades. The last service member executed by the U.S. military was Army Pvt. John Bennett, who was hanged in 1961 for rape and attempted murder.
To find a precedent for the firing squad, one must look back to 1945, when Pvt. Eddie Slovik was executed by that method for the crime of desertion during World War II.
The legal and logistical implications of the order remain a focal point as the Army prepares for the procedure. By utilizing a firing squad rather than other methods often debated in civilian courts, the administration is invoking a long-dormant tool of military tradition. For the families of the 13 victims lost in the 2009 rampage, the announcement marks the end of a long-standing legal chapter that has spanned multiple presidential administrations.
As of Monday, the Department of the Army has not released specific details regarding the timeline for the execution, stating only that the preparations are underway.
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