President Donald Trump has given the green light for the execution of Nidal Hasan by US Army firing squad. The Pentagon confirmed the decision on Monday. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the method of death by firing squad, and President Trump approved it. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell shared the news, stating that the Secretary of the Army will decide the exact time and place. He added that judgment day for Hasan has finally arrived. This will mark the first military execution carried out by the United States since 1961.
Hasan was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013. During his trial he chose to represent himself. He called no witnesses, offered no testimony, and never denied the charges against him. Court appointed lawyers at the time expressed concern that he appeared to be seeking the death penalty.
On November 5, 2009, Hasan opened fire inside a medical facility at the large Fort Hood base. The base was a major staging point for soldiers heading to Iraq and Afghanistan. Twelve of those killed and 30 of the wounded were soldiers. A civilian police officer shot and partially paralyzed Hasan during the response.
Evidence presented in court showed that Hasan opposed American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had also communicated online with an alleged Al Qaeda figure who was later killed in a US drone strike in Yemen.
While mass shootings remain frequent across the United States, attacks inside military installations are far less common. In 2025 a soldier opened fire at a base in Georgia and wounded five fellow troops before being stopped. In 2019 a sailor killed two people at a Hawaii base, and a Saudi military student shot three people at a facility in Florida the same year. A 2015 attack in Tennessee left four Marines and a sailor dead, and the 2013 Washington Navy Yard shooting claimed twelve lives.
The approval of Nidal Hasan’s execution by firing squad closes a long chapter that began more than sixteen years ago at Fort Hood.
