'Army to set time & place': Trump approves firing squad execution for 2009 Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, who killed 13

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood massacre in Texas that killed 13 people and wounded 32 others.The Pentagon announced Monday night that defense secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended a firing squad for Hasan's execution and Trump had approved the recommendation.Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X that Hegseth would determine the time and place of the execution.“Judgement day for Hasan has finally come,” Parnell wrote.Parnell described Hasan as “the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.” He said Hasan “killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack.”Hasan convicted in 2009 Fort Hood attackHasan, an Army psychiatrist, entered a medical building at Fort Hood where soldiers were undergoing medical examinations and opened fire with a laser-sighted handgun.He shouted “Allahu akbar”, Arabic for “God is great”, during the attack.Hasan said the shooting was intended to stop US soldiers from deploying to Afghanistan and killing his fellow Muslims. He made little effort to defend himself during his trial and told jurors that evidence would show he was the shooter.He described himself as a soldier who had “switched sides.”Trump's approval sets in motion a series of procedural steps towards carrying out the execution. However, Hasan could seek a habeas corpus appeal in the civilian federal court system, potentially delaying the execution for years, according to an article published in May in Army Lawyer.US military has not executed anyone since 1961Executions under the US military justice system are extremely rare. Four men, including Hasan, are currently on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.Former President George W. Bush approved the execution of Army Spc. Ronald Gray in 2008, but a judge later put the execution on hold. Gray remains at Fort Leavenworth.The last person executed by the US military was Pvt. John Bennett, who was hanged in 1961 after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl.Trump's approval of Hasan's execution comes days after a failed attempt to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection prompted Tennessee's governor to halt further executions this year and order an independent review.Trump had previously resumed federal executions following an informal moratorium under earlier administrations. The federal government carried out 13 executions between 2020 and early 2021.Asked whether the failed Tennessee execution would lead him to seek changes to capital punishment, Trump called it “an interesting situation.”“It shouldn’t be very difficult,” Trump said of carrying out lethal injections.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.