Trump Approves Death by Army Firing Squad for Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan — the First Execution After a U.S. Court-Martial Since 1961 — and the Pentagon Says "Judgment Day for Hasan Has Finally Come"

October 7, 2026

On Oct. 5, 2026, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended, and President Trump had approved, death by U.S. Army firing squad for Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009. A military jury convicted Hasan and sentenced him to death in 2013; the Supreme Court turned away his last appeal in April 2025. The next evening, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle set the execution for Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. at Fort Hood. It would be the first execution following a U.S. armed forces court-martial since 1961, and the military's first by firing squad since World War II. Hasan can still seek to delay it through a habeas corpus petition in civilian federal court. The approval came days after Tennessee halted executions for the rest of the year following a failed lethal injection.