More than 17 years after the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting, former U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad after President Donald Trump approved the military death sentence.
The U.S. Army has set the execution for December 3, 2026, at 1 p.m. Central Time at Fort Hood, Texas, the same installation where the attack occurred. Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle announced the date.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted by a military jury in 2013 for the November 5, 2009, shooting that killed 13 people and injured 32 others. The victims included 12 active-duty soldiers and one retired serviceman.
On the day of the attack, Hasan entered a medical facility at Fort Hood where soldiers were undergoing processing before deployment. He opened fire with a handgun equipped with a laser sight. Witnesses said he shouted “Allahu akbar” before firing.
A responding police officer shot Hasan during the attack, leaving him paralysed from the chest down.
During his court-martial, Hasan acknowledged that he carried out the shooting. He said he had acted to prevent U.S. soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan and fighting Muslims. Hasan represented himself for much of the trial and told jurors that the evidence would show he was the shooter. He also described himself as a soldier who had “switched sides.”
In August 2013, the military jury convicted Hasan of charges including premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder and sentenced him to death.
His case remained in the appeals process for years. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his challenge in 2025, leaving the military death sentence in place.
President Trump approved the execution order on October 2, 2026, following a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth had recommended execution by an Army firing squad and that Trump had approved the recommendation.
If carried out as scheduled, Hasan’s execution would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961, when the Army last carried out a military death sentence.
It would also represent an exceptionally rare use of a firing squad. The last known U.S. military execution by firing squad took place in 1945, when Army Pvt. Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion during World War II.
The scheduled execution has renewed debate over capital punishment and the use of firing squads in the United States. The December 3 date could still be affected by legal challenges, including a possible habeas corpus petition in federal court.
For the families and survivors of those killed and injured at Fort Hood, the scheduled execution marks the latest development in a case that has remained unresolved for more than a decade since Hasan was sentenced to death.
If carried out, the execution would bring the military’s death-penalty process in the Fort Hood case to its final stage at the installation where the 2009 attack occurred.
December 3, 2026, remains the date set by the U.S. Army for Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution by firing squad at Fort Hood.
Source: BROSSNEWS
