The U.S. Army has scheduled Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, to be executed by firing squad on December 3 at the same Texas military installation where the attack took place. If carried out, the Nidal Hasan execution would be the first by the U.S. military since Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1961.
President Donald Trump approved the execution after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended that Hasan’s death sentence be carried out by an Army firing squad. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced Trump’s final approval, saying at the time that “judgment day for Hasan has finally come.”
Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle followed by formally scheduling the execution, setting it for 1 p.m. Central Time on December 3 at Fort Hood, according to a memo cited by ABC News. Hegseth had been pushing for the sentence to be carried out, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation in 2025 that he was “100 percent committed” to seeing it through. “This savage terrorist deserves the harshest lawful punishment for his 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood,” Hegseth said. “The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays.”
Hasan was an Army major and psychiatrist when he opened fire inside Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center on November 5, 2009. He killed 13 people and attempted to kill 32 others, shouting “Allahu akbar” before opening fire with a laser-sighted handgun.
He made little effort to contest the shooting during his court-martial and described himself to jurors as a soldier who had “switched sides.” He later said he acted to prevent American troops from deploying to Afghanistan and killing Muslims. A military panel unanimously convicted him of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, sentencing him to death on August 28, 2013.
Hasan worked through the military appeals process without success. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces affirmed his case in March 2024, and the Supreme Court denied his petition for review on March 31, 2025. Details about the Fort Hood shooter execution date emerged publicly after his execution packet cleared the military bureaucracy and landed with the president for final action.
Despite exhausting his military appeals, the Associated Press reported that Hasan could still seek habeas corpus relief in the civilian federal court system, which could potentially delay the execution for years. The Army currently holds four prisoners under military death sentences, with Hasan among them. He has remained incarcerated at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth while his case moved through the military justice system.
December 3 stands as the scheduled date barring any successful legal challenge in civilian courts. What do you think about the scheduled execution? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on social media.
