Trump approves firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan

President Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former U.S. Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, according to NPR. NPR reported it would be the first U.S. military execution in over six decades and the first by firing squad since World War II. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the news on X on Monday night, writing, "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come."

Secretary of the Army Adam Telle said in an order released Tuesday that Hasan's execution will take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, according to NPR. Parnell said Trump acted on the recommendation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, NPR reported. Hegseth said last September that he was "100 percent committed to ensuring the death penalty is carried out for Nidal Hasan," and told several media outlets, including The Hill, "This savage terrorist deserves the harshest lawful punishment for his 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays."

Hasan could delay the proceedings if he files a habeas corpus appeal — a request asking a federal court to review whether a sentence is lawful — said Robin Maher, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. "The fact that the president has approved Mr. Hasan's death sentence is another step closer to his execution," Maher said. "But that does not mean that his execution will be imminent."

NPR reported it is not clear why the Pentagon is moving forward now, or why it specifically chose a firing squad as the execution method. Some death penalty experts NPR interviewed suspect it could be connected to Tennessee's botched lethal injection of Christa Pike, which NPR said has dominated headlines and reignited debate over the past week. Corinna Lain, whose book "Secrets of the Killing State" was published last year, said: "For years now, states have been pushing this rock of Sisyphus uphill … They're spending millions of dollars, and yet, they're having botched executions." She said "this moment in time is one where states are really thinking about: what are we doing and what best serves the death penalty? Whether the answer to that is firing squad is another question entirely."

The White House referred NPR's questions to the Pentagon, which declined to elaborate beyond Parnell's post, NPR reported. NPR noted that Ronald Gray, who committed multiple rapes and murders near Fort Bragg in the 1980s, is still on military death row despite having had his sentence approved by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Hasan was working as an Army psychiatrist in November 2009 when he opened fire at the Fort Hood processing center where troops were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, according to NPR. NPR reported he shouted "Allahu akbar" — "God is great" — before killing 13 people and injuring another 32, and that the attack ended when he was shot by civilian security officers at the scene, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Hasan acted as his own lawyer during his 2013 trial, at which he said, "the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter," NPR reported.