President Trump has approved death by U.S. Army firing squad for Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan, the first military execution since 1961 and a long-delayed reckoning for the 2009 massacre.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended the sentence and President Donald J. Trump signed off on it. The Secretary of the Army will set the final details, with the date now fixed for December 3 at Fort Hood itself.
Breitbart News carried Parnell’s statement laying out the decision in plain terms.
Parnell wrote that 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.”
“He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack.”
Parnell added that judgment day for Hasan has finally come. Hegseth answered with one word: “Justice.”
The attack happened on November 5, 2009, at the Texas military base then known as Fort Hood. Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow service members. Thirteen people died. Thirty-two more were wounded. A 2013 military jury convicted him on every count of murder and attempted murder.
Fox News reported the execution is scheduled for 1 p.m. Central Time on December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas. That date would make Hasan the first service member put to death by the armed forces since 1961.
Hasan represented himself at trial. He tried to argue he acted out of a duty to stop American soldiers from fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. The military judge, Col. Tara Osborn, threw out that defense and related motive evidence. Prosecutors still called more than 80 witnesses and introduced hundreds of pieces of evidence over two weeks. Hasan largely stayed silent, challenged the definition of jihad once, cross-examined one witness, then rested without a closing argument.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges. The death sentence followed. Appeals and bureaucratic delay stretched the case across multiple administrations. Trump’s approval ends that stall.
In a separate recent move, Trump authorized the Army firing squad path for this same case, underscoring the administration’s focus on carrying out lawful military sentences.
Just The News noted Hasan was a former Army psychiatrist who shouted “Allahu Akbar” while killing 13 and wounding 32. The outlet confirmed the Secretary of the Army retains authority over the precise time and place, now set for early December.
Parnell’s statement and the trial record leave little ambiguity about what happened that day. Unarmed soldiers were targeted on their own base. The shooter claimed a religious duty to murder them so they could not deploy. A court-martial jury rejected every defense and convicted him across the board.
Critics of capital punishment will object to any execution. The military justice system already tried the case, heard the evidence, and imposed the sentence more than a decade ago. What remained was presidential authority to allow the Army to carry it out.
Trump has shown a pattern of issuing clear directives on enforcement and accountability, whether on military justice or other fronts. One earlier episode saw Trump order a high-speed Beast run to keep a schedule after weather grounded flights, another example of decisive executive action.
The New York Post reported Hasan killed 12 U.S. service members and one civilian, matching the core casualty figures, and confirmed he would become the first service member executed by the armed forces since 1961 if the December date holds.
The method is a U.S. Army firing squad. No further appeals or stays appear in the current announcements. The Secretary of the Army holds the remaining administrative step of locking the clock and location, now publicly set for Fort Hood on December 3.
Families of the dead and wounded have waited through years of legal process. The 2009 attack remains one of the deadliest jihadist assaults on a U.S. military installation on American soil. Hasan’s own courtroom strategy centered on justifying the killings as religious obligation rather than denying them.
Judicial resistance has blocked other Trump enforcement efforts in recent months. A Boston judge blocked fines aimed at illegal immigrants who ignore final deportation orders, and another court moved to halt border barriers in Big Bend National Park. The Fort Hood decision stands apart: it rests on a completed court-martial and a lawful death sentence already on the books.
Hegseth’s one-word reply captured the administration’s view. After the recommendation reached the president’s desk, Trump approved the firing squad. Parnell made the announcement public. The Army now prepares to carry out the sentence on the same base where the murders occurred.
Accountability delayed is still accountability. When a soldier murders his comrades in the name of jihad, the military justice system is supposed to finish the job. This time it will.
