Trump Approves Firing Squad Execution for Fort Hood Shooter Hasan

President Donald Trump has given approval for Nidal Malik Hasan, a former U.S. Army major found guilty of the 2009 Fort Hood shootings that left 13 dead, to be executed by firing squad, Metro reported. Such an execution would mark the U.S. military's first use of a firing squad since World War II and its first execution in more than six decades. The report noted, however, that appellate review and a final legal ruling would need to occur first. Hasan, who served as an Army psychiatrist, fired inside a packed medical facility at the Texas military installation. Twelve soldiers and one civilian died, and over 30 other people were wounded. The soldiers were at the site awaiting medical examinations and vaccinations prior to deployment. At his 2013 trial, Hasan acknowledged that he was the shooter and stated he thought he was defending Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan, the BBC reported. He expressed regret for "any mistakes" he had made. Hasan is among four prisoners on the U.S. military's death row, according to the report. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell posted on X that "judgment day for Hasan has finally come." Metro reported that Pete Hegseth recommended the firing-squad method and that Trump accepted that recommendation. The development follows Trump's lifting of the federal execution moratorium that had been imposed under former President Joe Biden. In a 2025 executive order, Trump called 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." Military executions fall under a legal framework distinct from state executions. Five states allow firing squads: South Carolina, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah. In 2025, South Carolina conducted its first firing-squad execution when Brad Sigmon, who was convicted of a 2001 double murder, selected that option instead of lethal injection or the electric chair. That was the first firing-squad execution in the United States in 15 years.