President Donald Trump has authorized the execution by firing squad of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.
The Army has not carried out an execution since 1961. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X that the Army secretary will determine when and where Hasan’s execution takes place.
“Judgement day for Hasan has finally come,” Parnell wrote.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, entered a medical facility where soldiers were undergoing checkups. He shouted “Allahu akbar”—Arabic for “God is great!”—before opening fire with a laser-sighted handgun. The attack killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others.
Hasan said he was trying to prevent the soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan and killing fellow Muslims. He mounted little defense at trial, telling jurors that the evidence would prove he was the gunman. He also portrayed himself as a soldier who had “switched sides.”
Trump’s decision sets in motion a series of steps required before the execution can proceed. However, Hasan could delay the process—possibly for years—by filing a habeas corpus petition in the civilian federal courts, according to an article published in May by Army Lawyer magazine.
Military death sentences are rare, and executions are rarer still. Hasan is one of four men currently held on the military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. President George W. Bush authorized the execution of Army Spc. Ronald Gray in 2008, but a judge later halted the case, and Gray remains at Leavenworth.
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The most recent execution in the military justice system was the 1961 hanging of Pvt. John Bennett, who was convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl.
Trump approved Hasan’s firing-squad execution days after a failed lethal-injection attempt involving Christa Pike. The incident prompted Tennessee’s governor to suspend additional executions for the year and order an independent review.
Trump also revived the federal death penalty after previous administrations observed an informal moratorium. The federal government carried out 13 executions from 2020 through early 2021, making Trump the most prolific execution president in more than 130 years.
When asked whether Tennessee’s failed execution would prompt him to pursue changes to capital punishment, Trump called it “an interesting situation.”
“It shouldn’t be very difficult,” Trump said about administering lethal injections.
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