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The Pentagon has confirmed that Nidal Malik Hasan, the former US Army major responsible for the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, will be put to death by firing squad, marking the first military execution of its kind since the conclusion of World War Two. The announcement was made on Monday by Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, who revealed that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had recommended the execution and that President Donald Trump had given final approval.
Hasan, a military psychiatrist, opened fire inside a crowded medical processing building at the Texas base on 5 November 2009, killing 13 unarmed soldiers and wounding 32 others. The victims were troops preparing for deployment, awaiting routine medical check-ups and vaccinations when the attack unfolded. It remains the deadliest non-combat shooting ever carried out on an American military installation.
The 2009 assault sent shockwaves through the US armed forces and raised urgent questions about base security, the screening of military personnel, and the threat of internal radicalisation. Hasan was subdued at the scene and taken into custody, and he later admitted during his court-martial that he was the gunman. He offered what he described as an apology for "any mistakes," though his statements in court suggested he viewed the attack through an ideological lens.
During his 2013 trial, Hasan told the court he believed he was acting to protect Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. A panel of 13 military officers convicted him on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder, unanimously recommending the death penalty. That unanimous verdict set the legal foundation for the execution now being authorised more than a decade later.
Parnell announced the decision on social media, writing on X that "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come." He added that the Secretary of the Army would determine both the time and location of the execution. The precise scheduling remains unclear, and further legal steps may still lie ahead before the sentence is carried out.
Under US military law, a military execution cannot proceed without presidential approval, and it also requires appellate review and a final determination that the sentence is legally sound. The current case has already moved through the military justice system, but the confirmation of presidential authorisation represents a critical milestone in a process that has stretched across multiple administrations.
Hasan is currently one of only four inmates held on the US military's death row, a small population reflecting how rarely capital punishment is pursued within the armed forces. His case has long been a focal point in debates over military justice, terrorism, and the application of the death penalty to service members.
The history of military executions in the United States is notably sparse. The last military execution by firing squad took place at the end of World War Two, making the method effectively obsolete within the armed forces for more than six decades. The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but the punishment was reinstated the following year through an executive order issued by then-President Ronald Reagan.
Capital punishment in the US is overwhelmingly administered at the state level, with 27 states, the federal government, and the military all retaining it as a legally available option. Execution by firing squad is particularly rare. Last year, South Carolina carried out its first firing squad execution, which was also the first use of the method anywhere in the country in 15 years. Four other states — Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah — permit the method under certain conditions.
President Trump has been an outspoken supporter of capital punishment and moved quickly to restore federal executions after taking office. On his first day in January 2025, he signed an executive order reinstating the federal death penalty, reversing the moratorium imposed under his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, whose justice department had halted federal executions. Trump's order described capital punishment as "an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens."
The decision to proceed with Hasan's execution also raises broader questions about the military's approach to domestic extremism and the handling of service members who fall through the cracks of internal security screening. Hasan's attack exposed vulnerabilities in how the military monitors personnel for signs of radicalisation, a concern that has only grown in the years since.
For the families of the 13 soldiers killed and the dozens wounded, the announcement may bring a measure of closure after years of legal proceedings and delays. Yet opponents of the death penalty are likely to challenge the decision, arguing that the method and the sentence raise constitutional and ethical concerns. The firing squad, in particular, remains one of the most visually and politically charged forms of execution.
The execution is expected to draw intense national and international attention given its historical significance and the notoriety of the case. It will also test the boundaries of military capital punishment in an era when the practice has been all but dormant within the armed forces. For now, the Pentagon has made clear that it intends to carry out the sentence approved by the president, leaving Hasan's fate in the hands of the Army secretary who will set the final details.
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