“Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow service members at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, while yelling “Allahu Akbar,” killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others. He was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in 2013 and sentenced to death”.
By Our Correspondent
WASHINGTON — United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has announced that the execution of former Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Islamist terrorist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, will be public and carried out at the same base where he carried out the attack.
Hegseth made the announcement in an interview aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Thursday, saying the execution would be handled by soldiers.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it. That it’s public. Because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things!” Hegseth said.
“He’s gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be,” he added.
When asked by conservative podcaster Jack Posobiec if Hasan made any final requests, Hegseth responded, “Don’t care. We’ll see him on December 3rd.”
The Pentagon announced on Monday that President Donald Trump approved the firing squad execution at the recommendation of Hegseth.
“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,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on X. “Judgment Day has finally come,” he added.
Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle has set the date for the execution on December 3 at 1 p.m. CT at Fort Hood, Texas.
Hegseth said the time and place were deliberately symbolic.
“We’re going to do it on a Thursday. We’re going to do it at one o’clock, which is when he did it. And it’s going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad,” Hegseth affirmed.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow service members at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009, while yelling “Allahu Akbar,” killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others. He was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in 2013 and sentenced to death.
He has been on military death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas since then. His execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military since 1961, when the Army hanged Pvt. John Bennett. The military last used a firing squad for an execution in 1945.
Hegseth argued that carrying out the execution publicly at Fort Hood was a matter of justice.
“Army major betrays his country, radical Islamist kills a bunch of Americans at Fort Hood. Of course we’re doing it at Fort Hood,” he reiterated.
The announcement has drawn strong reactions from victims’ families, many of whom have waited over a decade for justice. A Fort Hood survivor who was shot in the head has vowed to watch the execution.
The Pentagon referred questions about how the public viewing would be organized to the Army, which has not yet released details on whether attendance will be in person or via broadcast.