The Pentagon has announced that former US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan will be executed by firing squad, in what is expected to be the first military execution by this method in more than 60 years.
Hasan, a former US Army psychiatrist, was sentenced to death for killing 13 soldiers and wounding 32 others in the 2009 attack on the Fort Hood military base in Texas.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended the execution and President Donald Trump had approved it. The time and place of the execution will be determined by the Secretary of the Army.
Hasan was found guilty by a military jury of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. The jury unanimously recommended the death penalty.
The attack took place on November 5, 2009, at a Fort Hood medical facility where soldiers were waiting for checkups and vaccinations. Hasan opened fire on them, making it one of the deadliest non-combat attacks on a US military base.
During his military trial in 2013, Hasan admitted to carrying out the attack and said he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He also apologized for what he called "any mistakes."
Hasan is currently on the US military's death row and is one of four prisoners awaiting execution. Under US military law, executions require the approval of the president, pending the completion of the appeals process and a final determination of the legality of the execution.
Execution by firing squad is a rare method in the United States. Last year, South Carolina carried out an execution by firing squad, the first in the state and the first in the US in 15 years.
Donald Trump has publicly supported the federal death penalty. In January 2025, at the beginning of his term, he signed an executive order restoring the use of the death penalty at the federal level, describing it as a tool to punish and deter the most serious crimes and acts of deadly violence.