Pentagon to Execute Nidal Malik Hasan by Firing Squad

The Pentagon announced that the United States will carry out the execution of former Army major Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad, marking the first U.S. military execution since the end of World War II.

Hasan was convicted for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas that left 13 unarmed American soldiers dead and 32 others wounded.

Decision and official statement

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on the social network X that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made the recommendation and that President Donald Trump approved it. Parnell wrote on X: "The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. The day of reckoning for Hasan has finally come."

The announcement ends a long legal and military process surrounding one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. soldiers on home soil in recent decades. Military executions in the United States have been extraordinarily rare since World War II; officials described the planned punishment as the first such wartime-style execution since that period.

Officials did not provide a date or location for the execution beyond Parnell’s statement that the Secretary of the Army will determine the specific time and place. Further logistical and legal steps are expected as the Department of Defense and the Army finalize arrangements.

The case continues to resonate in military and public debates about security, mental health, and battlefield conduct, recalling the 2009 attack at Fort Hood that prompted inquiries and reforms within military installations.

Photo: Geti)