Trump approves firing squad for Fort Hood shooter Hasan

President Donald Trump has approved a recommendation by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to execute Nidal Malik Hasan by U.S. Army firing squad. Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, was sentenced to death for opening fire at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the decision on X on October 5, 2026, stating that Hegseth recommended and Trump approved death by Army firing squad, that the Secretary of the Army will set the time and place, and that “Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.” Parnell’s announcement described Hasan as having opened fire on unarmed American soldiers while shouting “Allahu Akbar.” Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down after law enforcement shot him. He represented himself at his 2013 trial, saying in his opening statement “the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter,” and later “that we are imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion … I apologize for any mistakes I made in this endeavor.” He has been on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 2013. Right-rated coverage stressed the jihadist framing and the firing-squad method; no left-rated coverage was in the record. The execution date remains unset. If carried out, it would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961.