The man who murdered 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 will face a U.S. Army firing squad, under an order President Trump personally approved.
Story Snapshot
- Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended, and President Trump approved, death by firing squad for Nidal Malik Hasan.
- Hasan was convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others.
- The method would mark the first U.S. military execution in over sixty years, according to multiple reports.
- Several major outlets confirm the same Pentagon statement, though no full written order or legal memo has been made public yet.
Pentagon Confirms The Order Came From The Top
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, announced the decision in blunt terms. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth “has recommended,” he said, “and President Donald J. Trump has approved — death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan.” The statement names both men directly, leaving no ambiguity about who made the call or what method was chosen.
Reporting on the decision spread fast across wire services and major newsrooms, all pointing back to the same Pentagon language. United Press International, CBS News, the New York Post, the Washington Examiner, and other outlets each quoted Parnell’s statement nearly word for word. That kind of consistency across independent newsrooms gives the public a solid foundation for the basic fact: Trump signed off, and Hegseth recommended it.
The Crime That Set This In Motion
Hasan, an Army major and psychiatrist, opened fire inside a Fort Hood processing center in November 2009. Thirteen people died and more than 30 were wounded in what prosecutors called a premeditated terrorist attack. A military jury convicted him and sentenced him to death. He has sat on military death row for over a decade while the case moved through appeals.
His death sentence has stood for years without being carried out, a common pattern in military capital cases, where appeals and procedural reviews can stretch on for decades. This latest step does not change his conviction or his guilt. It changes how the government plans to carry out the punishment already imposed by a military jury.
Why Firing Squad, And Why Now
If carried out, this would be the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years, according to UPI’s reporting. The last time the Army put one of its own to death was in the early 1960s. Choosing a firing squad over lethal injection or other methods marks a deliberate break from decades of standard military practice.
The timing lines up with a broader national shift. Idaho adopted firing squad as its primary execution method in July 2026, following years of trouble finding reliable drugs for lethal injection. States like Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah also allow the method under certain conditions. Nationally, firing squads remain rare, but recent lethal-injection problems have pushed more states to look at the option again.
Supporters of the method argue it is actually more reliable than it sounds. Historical reviews have found no documented cases of a botched firing squad execution, a track record that stands apart from the complications sometimes reported with lethal injection. For a case as serious as Hasan’s, that reliability carries real weight for those who want the sentence finally carried out without further delay or legal complication.
What We Still Don’t Know
The Pentagon’s statement, delivered through a spokesman rather than a published order, is the main public record of this decision so far. No formal written order, legal memo, or signed document has been released publicly at this writing. That is a normal gap for a fast-moving announcement, not a sign anything about the core facts is in question.
What happens next will likely involve further review by military legal officials before any execution date is set. For the families of the 13 people killed at Fort Hood, the news closes a chapter they have waited more than fifteen years to see resolved. The Pentagon’s direction is now set at the highest level of government.
This case now stands as a marker in a longer national conversation about how the government carries out its most severe punishments. Whether through military or state courts, the choice of method increasingly reflects practical concerns about reliability as much as it does tradition. Hasan’s case brings that debate squarely into the armed forces for the first time in generations.
Sources:
idahostatesman.com, deathpenaltyinfo.org, idoc.idaho.gov
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