Hegseth Pledges Public Firing Squad Execution for Fort Hood Shooter
By Daily Caller News Foundation (/journals/dcnf)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised to make the execution of convicted Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan public, marking America’s first public execution in 90 years.
Hasan is scheduled to face a military firing squad Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, at 1 p.m. Central Time. The Pentagon has not explained whether Americans will be allowed to attend the execution in person or watch it through a broadcast, Axios reported.
Hegseth promised that the execution would be made public during an interview with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, CNN reported.
“He’s gonna get a firing squad of soldiers,” Hegseth said during a Thursday interview with conservative commentator Jack Posobiec aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. “As it should be. We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it. That it’s public. Because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”
The Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively reported in September 2025 that the Pentagon was preparing to seek President Donald Trump’s final approval to execute Hasan, citing a Department of War official. The official revealed that Hasan’s execution paperwork was already moving through the military bureaucracy toward presidential review.
“Inmate Hasan’s packet is now in the staffing process for presidential action,” the official told the DCNF at the time.
Hegseth also personally pledged to carry out Hasan’s execution in an exclusive statement to the DCNF more than a year before the newly scheduled execution date.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
“I am 100 percent committed to ensuring the death penalty is carried out for Nidal Hasan,” Hegseth told the DCNF in September 2025.
“This savage terrorist deserves the harshest lawful punishment for his 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays,” Hegseth added in his statement to the DCNF.
The Pentagon official explained that the execution recommendation would pass through Army leadership, the Army secretary and Hegseth before reaching the president, according to the DCNF’s exclusive reporting.
Trump ultimately approved Hegseth’s recommendation, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced Monday. Parnell declared that “judgment day for Hasan has finally come.”
Hasan was convicted of murdering 13 people and attempting to murder 32 others during the November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood. He told military jurors during his 2013 trial that he had targeted soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump approved Hegseth’s recommendation to execute Hasan by firing squad, while acting Army Secretary Adam Telle officially scheduled the execution, CNN reported.
The execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military since 1961 and the Army’s first by firing squad since World War II, Axios reported.
The last public execution in the United States occurred in 1936, when Rainey Bethea was hanged in Kentucky, Axios reported.
The Army has not responded to questions about how spectators might be permitted to watch, CNN reported.
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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.