Fort Hood mass murderer Nidal Malik Hasan is set to be killed by military firing squad after Donald Trump gave the green light for his historic execution. The former US Army major, who gunned down 13 people and injured more than 30 others in a horrific 2009 rampage, will become the first US soldier executed by the armed forces in over six decades.
It also marks the first time since World War II that the US military will use a firing squad to kill a death row inmate. The army psychiatrist opened fire on a crowded medical facility at Fort Hood in Texas, where troops were lining up for medical check-ups and vaccines ahead of overseas deployment. The attack went down as the deadliest non-combat shooting at a military installation in American history.
Confession and apology at trial
At his 2013 trial, the Virginia-born gunman confessed to the carnage in court and offered a half-hearted apology for "any mistakes" he made. He chillingly claimed he carried out the bloodshed to protect Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Hasan gunned down 13 defenceless people and injured more than 30 others.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell has now confirmed the monster's time is up, posting on X that "judgment day for Hasan has finally come". The brutal method was put forward by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth before getting the final seal of approval from President Trump.
Military capital punishment rules
While only five US states, South Carolina, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah, permit firing squad executions under state law, military capital punishment operates under its own set of rules. Military executions were temporarily thrown out in 1983 when the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled them unconstitutional, but the death penalty was reinstated a year later by President Ronald Reagan.
Trump brought back the federal death penalty in 2025 after President Joe Biden had previously paused its use. In an executive order, Trump branded capital punishment "an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens".
Death row and recent firing squad use
The twisted killer remains one of just four prisoners currently sitting on the US military's death row, with his execution now subject to final legal appellate reviews. Firing squad executions returned to the US spotlight last year in South Carolina when double-killer Brad Sigmon chose the method over the electric chair and lethal injection. His death marked the state's first firing squad execution and the first anywhere in the US for 15 years.
