Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan To Face Firing Squad – US Announces

The United States (US) is preparing to carry out its first military execution in more than six decades, with convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan scheduled to face a firing squad on December 3.

The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the execution would be livestreamed, saying the public should see the consequences of crimes of this nature.

Naija News reports that Hasan, a former US Army major and psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people during a shooting at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009.

Speaking on Thursday during an interview with conservative television outlet Real America’s Voice, Hegseth said the execution would be carried out by soldiers.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” he said. “Because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”

Hegseth added that Hasan would face a firing squad, describing the method as appropriate for the execution.

The execution is scheduled to take place at Fort Hood on December 3, according to the US Army secretary.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Monday that Hegseth had recommended the execution and US President Donald Trump had approved it.

Under US military law, an execution must receive presidential approval and undergo appellate review, including a final legal determination, before it can proceed.

Hasan carried out the attack on November 5, 2009, inside a crowded medical building at Fort Hood, where soldiers preparing for deployment were waiting for medical examinations and vaccinations.

The shooting left 13 people dead and several others wounded, making it the deadliest non-combat attack on a US military base.

During his court-martial in 2013, Hasan admitted responsibility for the shooting and apologized for what he described as “any mistakes”.

He told the court that he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The planned execution has drawn attention to a case that shocked the US military and raised questions about security at military installations.

The United States last carried out a military execution in 1961, when an Army private was hanged after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old Austrian girl.

The execution had been authorized by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It went ahead despite the victim’s family appealing to his successor, John F. Kennedy, for clemency.

Naija News understands that the last US military execution by firing squad took place in January 1945, when Army deserter Eddie Slovik was shot during the final months of World War II.

If carried out as scheduled, Hasan’s execution would mark the first US military execution since 1961 and the first by firing squad since 1945.