President Donald Trump has approved the execution of former U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan by Army firing squad for the 2009 Fort Hood attack that killed 13 people, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokesman.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended the method of execution, and Trump approved it, Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell announced on social media.
“Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended — and President Donald J. Trump has approved — death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009,” Parnell wrote. “The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.”
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended — and President Donald J. Trump has approved — death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009. He killed 13 people and wounded…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) October 5, 2026
The approval moves the long-running military capital case toward execution, but it does not eliminate the possibility of further court action. Army lawyers explained in May that a condemned military prisoner may still seek habeas relief in federal civilian court after the military appellate process and presidential approval.
Hasan opened fire inside the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces found that he killed 13 people and wounded 31. The court noted that Hasan faced 32 attempted-premeditated-murder specifications because he also exchanged gunfire with a civilian police officer who was not shot.
Hasan acknowledged during his court-martial that the evidence would show he was the shooter. The military panel convicted him of 13 specifications of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and sentenced him to death in August 2013. The sentence also included dismissal from the service and forfeiture of all pay and allowances, the Army reported.
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces affirmed the judgment in March 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Hasan’s petition for review on March 31, 2025.
If carried out, Hasan’s execution would be the first death sentence carried out by the U.S. military since 1961.
The U.S. military last executed Army Pvt. John Bennett by hanging at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on April 13, 1961. The Army’s 2026 review of military capital punishment confirmed that no military death sentence has been carried out since Bennett’s execution.
