Trump Greenlights Military Firing Squad for Fort Hood Gunman Nidal Hasan

President Donald Trump has given the go-ahead for Nidal Hasan, the former US Army psychiatrist convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, to be put to death by firing squad, the Pentagon confirmed on Monday. The decision marks a significant escalation in one of the most notorious domestic terrorism cases in modern American military history and sets the stage for the first military execution in more than six decades.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the method of execution, according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, who announced the approval in a social media post. Parnell stated that the Army Secretary would determine when and where the execution would take place, adding that the long-delayed judgment for Hasan had finally arrived. The announcement brings an end to years of legal limbo for a case that has haunted the US military establishment since the shootings.

Hasan, a US-born Army major of Palestinian descent, opened fire at the Fort Hood military base in Texas on November 5, 2009. The assault left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded. Twelve of the fatalities and 30 of the injured were active-duty soldiers preparing for or returning from deployments. The attack remains the deadliest mass shooting ever carried out on a US military installation.

The shooter was eventually subdued by a civilian police officer who responded to the scene. Hasan was shot multiple times during the exchange and sustained injuries that left him partially paralysed. He has since been confined to a wheelchair during court proceedings. The officer who stopped the rampage, Kimberly Munley, was herself wounded in the firefight and was widely hailed as a hero for preventing further bloodshed.

At his court-martial in 2013, Hasan was sentenced to death by a military jury. In an unusual move, he opted to represent himself during the trial but chose not to call any witnesses or present a defence. He also declined to testify on his own behalf and made no effort to contest the charges against him. His court-appointed attorneys expressed alarm at the time, suggesting that Hasan appeared to be actively seeking his own execution rather than fighting for his life.

During the proceedings, the court heard evidence that Hasan harboured deep opposition to the US military's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prosecutors also revealed that he had exchanged online communications with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric linked to Al-Qaeda. Awlaki was subsequently killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011, an operation that drew its own controversy at the time.

The attack was characterised by investigators as having been inspired by Al-Qaeda's ideology. Hasan's actions shocked the nation and prompted a sweeping review of security protocols at military bases across the country. It also ignited a fierce debate over whether the incident should be classified as workplace violence or an act of terrorism, a distinction with significant implications for victims' benefits and official recognition.

Mass shootings are a tragically familiar occurrence in the United States, but they remain relatively uncommon on military installations, which are typically secured facilities with armed personnel. The Fort Hood attack exposed vulnerabilities in base security and raised uncomfortable questions about how a serving officer could carry out such an assault undetected despite prior warning signs.

The rarity of military base shootings has been underscored by several subsequent incidents in recent years. In 2025, a soldier opened fire at a US military base in Georgia, wounding five fellow service members before being tackled and detained. The motive for that attack has not been fully disclosed, but it added to concerns about mental health and radicalisation within the ranks.

Earlier incidents paint a similarly troubling picture. In 2019, a US sailor shot and killed two people and wounded a third at a base in Hawaii. That same year, a Saudi military student stationed at a Florida naval facility killed three people in another attack that prompted a review of how foreign military trainees are vetted and monitored.

In 2015, a Kuwaiti-born US citizen carried out shootings at two military installations in Tennessee, killing four Marines and a sailor. The FBI concluded that the violence was inspired by a foreign terrorist group, marking another grim chapter in the intersection of homegrown extremism and military targets. Two years before that, a gunman killed 12 people and wounded eight at the Washington Navy Yard before police shot him dead.

The decision to proceed with a firing-squad execution is notable because the US military has not carried out an execution since 1961. The long hiatus reflects both the rarity of capital cases in the military justice system and the extensive appeals process that death-row inmates typically navigate. Military executions are governed by a separate legal framework from civilian ones, and the method chosen carries historical echoes of an earlier era.

Legal experts suggest that further appeals or legal challenges could still delay the execution, even after the President's approval. Death penalty cases in the military system undergo automatic review by appellate courts, and defence counsel can raise issues related to competence, mental health, or the constitutionality of the sentence. Given Hasan's paralysed condition and his apparent willingness to die, the legal dynamics are unusual and could complicate the path to the death chamber.

The timing of the announcement also carries political significance. Trump, who returned to the White House in January 2025, has made law-and-order themes a central pillar of his administration. His approval of the execution method aligns with a broader push by his administration to accelerate federal executions, a policy that has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organisations and defence attorneys who argue that the process shortchanges due process.

For the families of the Fort Hood victims, the news may bring a measure of closure after more than a decade and a half of waiting. Many survivors and relatives have expressed frustration over the slow pace of justice, particularly given the lengthy appeals process. The execution, should it proceed, would represent a final chapter in a case that has left deep scars on the military community and the nation as a whole.