Trump approves execution by firing squad for Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan

U.S. President Donald Trump approved carrying out a firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former military psychiatrist who was sentenced to death for killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, Pentagon spokesman Sean Reardon announced.

In a post on X, Reardon wrote that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended and President Trump approved execution by firing squad for Hasan, calling him a 'convicted terrorist.' He said: 'The Secretary of Defense will set the date and place of the execution. Hasan's day of judgment has finally come.'

According to the British Guardian report, Hasan may be the first U.S. soldier executed by the U.S. military in more than 60 years. He was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013 after being convicted of carrying out the mass shooting at Fort Hood. During the trial he chose to represent himself but called no witnesses, did not testify and made no attempt to deny the charges against him.

According to details presented at trial, Hasan, a Muslim-American of Palestinian descent, opened fire on November 5, 2009, in a medical facility on the base that served as a staging point for soldiers being deployed to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Twelve of the deceased and 30 of the wounded were soldiers, and a civilian police officer who responded to the incident shot Hasan and he remained partially paralyzed.

The court was told that Hasan opposed U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and communicated online with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaida operative who was later killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.