It’s been some 60 years since the U.S. military carried out its last execution for crimes beyond the pale.
Originally published by WND News Center. Used with permission.
But it appears another soon could be on the horizon.
The Military Times reports the process is moving forward for dismissed Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, 52.
His case right now is before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
He’s on death row for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, which is considered the deadliest mass shooting ever on a United States military installation.
It was Nov. 5, 2009 when Hasan charged into a readiness process center in Texas and shot and killed 13 people, including a pregnant soldier. He wounded another 32.
He admitted to the shootings during his court-martial in 2013 and was sentenced to death.
The last military execution in the U.S. was when former soldier John Bennett was hanged after being convicted of raping and trying to kill a young girl, the Times reported.
The arguments before the Court of Appeals are the next step in a long military appeals process, and it still remains to be determined if Hasan actually will face the court-ordered punishment for killing and maiming so many people.
It’s likely that whatever result comes from the appeals panel, it will end up before the Supreme Court, and also an execution would require a decision from Joe Biden.
“As commander in chief, the president is required to confirm an execution sentence or commute it to what would likely be life in prison,” the report explained.
There currently are four former military members on death row at the military’s Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, detention center.
Hasan’s mayhem still reverberates, the report explained.
Former Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, a two-time combat veteran, was hit four times by Hasan’s shots and spent months recovering.
“He looked me straight in the eyes as he pointed the gun at me, and a split second later, I’m on the floor with a hole in my head,” he said in a recent interview.