United States President Donald Trump has approved the death by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former army officer convicted of carrying out a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, an army base in Texas. The move, if it proceeds, will revive executions in the army, which has not carried one out since 1961. Death sentences, as well as executions in the US military, are rare and require presidential approval.
Under the army’s code of military justice, premeditated murder does carry the death penalty, but the process is often strict and prolonged. However, the Trump administration has shown more willingness to seek death penalties for serious crimes, including against civilians. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had initially recommended an execution order for Hasan, and Trump has now approved it, according to an X statement posted by Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.
Parnell said the time and date of the execution will be set by Army Secretary Adam Telle, who is serving in an acting capacity. On November 5, 2009, the US-born army major, Hasan, a psychiatrist in the force, walked into an army processing centre in Fort Hood, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and opened fire on fellow staff members waiting to get medical attention. Thirteen people were killed, including a pregnant soldier, and 32 others were wounded during 10 minutes of shooting.
Analysts have called it the worst shooting at a US military base targeting members of armed forces. Hasan was shot several times after two officers engaged him and remains paralysed from the waist down. Hasan was immediately court-martialled, and military prosecutors, from the start, sought the death penalty against him.
However, the process would play out over the course of several years even after his conviction – largely because the US military is averse to capital punishment. During the trial, Hasan represented himself and admitted to the attacks, saying he was trying to stop deployments to Afghanistan and the killing of his fellow Muslims. He was due to be deployed weeks later.
Investigations revealed Hasan had exchanged emails with Yemeni-American scholar Anwar al-Awlaki, accused of ties to al-Qaeda, before the shooting. He had also repeatedly voiced opposition to the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to colleagues and the treatment of Muslims in the army. Hasan made little effort to defend himself, and his assigned lawyers claimed his testimony aided the opposing side.
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