United States President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hassan, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist who was sentenced to death for the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood in Texas.
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Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, announced that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had proposed carrying out the sentence by a U.S. Army firing squad. The proposal was subsequently approved by Trump.
Authorities have not yet announced the date or location of the execution. Military regulations stipulate that it must take place no earlier than 60 days and no later than 150 days after authorization by the president.
The Fort Hood massacre
On November 5, 2009, Nidal Malik Hassan opened fire inside the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Thirteen people were killed in the attack, including 12 soldiers and one civilian, while 32 others were wounded.
At the time, Hassan was serving in the U.S. Army as a psychiatrist. He had opposed the United States’ wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, describing them as illegal. He was wounded during the shooting and left partially paralyzed. In 2013, a military court found him guilty and sentenced him to death.
First military execution since 1961
Carrying out the sentence would mark the first execution conducted by the U.S. military since 1961.
Soldier John Bennett was executed that year after being convicted of raping and attempting to murder an 11-year-old girl in Austria.
In recent months, the U.S. Army has worked to prepare for a possible resumption of executions, developing the procedures that will be implemented following presidential approval.
