The US military will execute a man by firing squad for the first time in over 60 years, after approval from Donald Trump. The execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former US Army major, marks the first time the military has used this method since World War II.
Fort Hood attack and trial
In 2009, Hasan fatally shot 13 unarmed people, including 12 soldiers, and injured over 30 others at Fort Hood, a base in Texas. The army psychiatrist from Virginia opened fire on a crowded medical building, in what was described as the deadliest non-combat attack on a military base. Soldiers were waiting for check-ups and vaccines at the time.
At his trial in 2013, Hasan said he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to the BBC. He apologised for 'any mistakes' he made and admitted in court that he was the gunman.
Approval and legal process
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended the military execution by firing squad, which Trump approved. The law requires appellate review and a final judgment on its legality before the execution can proceed. The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces deemed the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but it was reinstated by then-President Ronald Reagan the following year.
In 2025, Trump reinstated the federal death penalty after President Joe Biden had issued a moratorium on its use. The executive order describes capital punishment as 'an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens'.
Hasan's status and precedent
Hasan is one of only four inmates on the American military's death row and would be the first US soldier executed by the army in over 60 years. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X that 'judgment day for Hasan has finally come'.
Only five states allow the use of a firing squad – South Carolina, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah – but a military execution is a separate process. A state execution by firing squad was carried out last year in South Carolina, chosen by the inmate. Brad Sigmon, convicted in 2001 of a double murder, opted for the firing squad over lethal injection or the electric chair. It was the first time a firing squad had been used in the state, and the first such execution anywhere in the US in 15 years.
