President Donald Trump has approved the execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad, according to Sean Parnell, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of War.
Parnell said Monday that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had recommended the firing squad as the method of execution and that Trump had approved the recommendation.
“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,” Parnell said.
Hegseth will determine the time and location of the execution, according to Parnell.
Hasan, a U.S.-born Army psychiatrist and former major, was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder over the November 5, 2009, shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. Prosecutors said he shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire on fellow U.S. service members.
The attack killed 13 people and wounded 32 others.
Hasan was court-martialed in 2013 and sentenced to death. He has been held on death row at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
His subsequent appeals, including challenges before the U.S. Supreme Court, have been unsuccessful.
Hasan was 40 when he carried out the attack and is now 56. Before the shooting, he served as a psychiatrist in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.
