“He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack” – Parnell
“Yes. I did it to protect Muslim insurgents abroad from American aggression” – Convict Hasan
By Gregory Tav
WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump has approved the execution of convicted terrorist, Nidal Malik Hasan by United States Army firing squad, the Pentagon announced Monday night.
The announcement was made by Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, who said Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth recommended death by firing squad for Hasan and President Trump 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, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009,” Parnell wrote on X.
“He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack,” he added.
“The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.”
Hasan, a former Army major and psychiatrist, opened fire on unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. He was convicted in July 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder by a jury panel of 13 officers, which unanimously recommended the death sentence.
If carried out, the execution would be the U.S. military’s first such execution by firing squad since World War II and its first imposition of any death penalty on an armed service member in 65 years. The last death sentence carried out by the U.S. military was in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Hegseth replied to Parnell’s post, saying simply, “Justice.”
Pentagon officials said Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Under Army policy, the execution must happen within 150 days of the president’s approval, but not sooner than 60 days.
Hasan, now 56, is being held at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He admitted in court that he was the gunman and said he carried out the attack to protect Muslim insurgents abroad from American aggression.
The approval comes after reports earlier this year that Army officials circulated a plan dubbed “Operation Resolute Justice” to coordinate with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to carry out the executions of Hasan and three other death-row inmates at a facility in Indiana.
