Trump approves execution of Fort Hood shooter by firing squad

- Convicted of killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 others in an attack on a military base in 2009

- First execution carried out by the U.S. military since 1961

U.S. President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist holding the rank of colonel, who was convicted for carrying out an armed attack at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (“Pentagon”).

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Barnell announced on the platform “X” that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended carrying out the death sentence, and Trump approved its execution by firing squad by a U.S. Army firing squad.

Barnell added that the Secretary of the Army will determine the date and location of the execution.

Hasan’s execution is scheduled to be the first carried out by the U.S. military since 1961.

A military jury sentenced Hasan to death in 2013 after convicting him of carrying out a mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas.

On November 5, 2009, Hasan opened fire inside a medical facility that served as a staging point for deploying troops to combat zones, killing 13 people and injuring more than 30 others. The victims were soldiers preparing to travel to Iraq.

Hasan was shot by a civilian police officer who responded to the attack, leaving him with partial paralysis.

Hasan chose to represent himself during the trial, called no witnesses, did not testify, and made no attempt to deny the charges against him. Court-appointed defense attorneys expressed concern that his actions were aimed at securing a death sentence.

The court found that Hasan committed the attack in opposition to the U.S. military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and confirmed that he had communicated online with Anwar al-Awlaki, an American cleric and leader of al-Qaeda, who was later killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.