Army Sets Dec. 3 Firing Squad Execution for Fort Hood Gunman, and the Pentagon Plans to Livestream It
Court challenges may yet hold up a sentence the military hasn’t enforced since the early 1960s.
Nidal Hasan has sat on military death row for 13 years. Now the government has picked a date, and the way it wants the public to see the execution is getting nearly as much attention as the sentence itself.
What was announced
Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle said Tuesday that Hasan will be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, Texas. The announcement followed word from the Pentagon the day before. Spokesperson Sean Parnell said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended the firing squad and President Donald Trump had approved it. Parnell said “Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.” (Firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan scheduled for December +2)
Reports differ slightly on the hour. NBC News gave the start as 1 p.m. Texas time and said the prison’s commandant would be in charge of the proceedings. CNN gave 2 p.m. Eastern, which matches. Hegseth said the time was chosen to match the hour of the 2009 shooting. (Ex-Army major who killed 13 at Fort Hood set to be executed by firing squad +2)
Should it go ahead, it would be a first in modern memory. The military hasn’t carried out a death sentence since Pvt. John Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on April 13, 1961. And no soldier has faced an Army firing squad since World War II. Neither the Pentagon nor the White House has explained why a firing squad was chosen. NPR noted it is unclear why officials are moving forward now or why they picked that method. (trump approves firing squad execution for fort hood killer nidal hasan +2)
The livestream
The most unusual part came Thursday. In an interview with Real America’s Voice, Hegseth said the execution would be public and that people would be able to watch. Pentagon officials then clarified that it will be livestreamed, with more details to come. (PBS) (PBS)
Nothing has been said about where the stream will run or who will be physically present. Al Jazeera noted it is unclear whether troops, spectators or military officials will attend in person, and that Army regulations call for at least two media outlets to serve as witnesses. The White House referred questions about the plan to the Pentagon. (Al Jazeera) (PBS)
Asked whether Hasan had made any final requests, Hegseth replied, “Don’t care.” Hegseth also called the choice of a firing squad a “no-brainer.” (PBS) (NBC News)
The case
The attack began on Nov. 5, 2009, when Hasan, at the time an Army psychiatrist, entered a building where soldiers were getting medical checkups before deployment and started shooting. Thirteen people died, and more than 30 were wounded. Accounts of the injured differ slightly. Some outlets say 32 and others 31. The military’s top appeals court explained that one of the 32 attempted-murder counts involved a civilian police officer who exchanged gunfire with Hasan but was not hit. (kera) (dallasexpress)
Hasan represented himself at trial and was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. A 13-member panel sentenced him to death, dismissed him from the Army and stripped his pay. Hasan was shot during the attack and has been paralyzed from the waist down since. (Ex-Army major who killed 13 at Fort Hood set to be executed by firing squad +2)
Hasan’s appeals took more than a decade to run out. The last of them ended in spring 2025. The top military appeals court had backed the sentence in March 2024, and a year later, on March 31, the justices of the Supreme Court declined to take up the case. Hegseth said he was “100% committed” to carrying out the sentence. (dallasexpress) (Fox News)
Why the date may not hold
Presidential approval doesn’t guarantee an execution on schedule. Trump’s approval set off a series of procedural steps. But a May article in Army Lawyer magazine said Hasan could pause them, possibly for years, by filing a habeas corpus petition in civilian federal court. Military law experts said such a petition could significantly delay the execution. It is also unclear whether he will contest the method of execution. (Firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan scheduled for December +2)
Hasan has not said publicly what he will do. One of the lawyers connected to his case has taken issue with how he learned of the president’s decision. According to Hasan, the prison commandant arrived with a chaplain but no lawyer when he was informed that Trump had signed off. That is his account as relayed by his lawyer, and it hasn’t been independently confirmed. (news4jax) (news4jax)
Survivors and families are divided
Those most directly affected do not agree on what the day should look like. Before the date was made public, victims’ relatives received an email asking whether they would like to attend or follow online. Several survivors have posted that they will be at the base. Others have mixed feelings. Torkelson, a survivor, hopes to be at the base for the sake of fellow survivors, but says she doesn’t want to see the execution itself. Another, Willingham, said she doesn’t expect to find closure in it. (Fort Hood shooting survivors, victims’ families grapple with Nidal Hasan’s Dec. 3 execution – CBS Texas +3)
