Nidal Hasan Faces Firing Squad at Fort Hood

Killeen, TX – Seventeen years after Nidal Malik Hasan walked into a Fort Hood processing center and murdered 13 people, the Army is preparing to bring him back to the same installation where the massacre happened. This time, Hasan will not be walking in as a soldier, he will be a condemned prisoner facing a firing squad.

The Army has scheduled Hasan’s execution for 1 p.m. Central time on Dec. 3, 2026, at Fort Hood, according to a memorandum issued by Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle and obtained by Pipkins Reports. President Donald Trump approved the execution order Oct. 2, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended that Hasan be executed by firing squad. Trump approved that method.

Hasan, then an Army major and psychiatrist, opened fire at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009. He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. The victims were primarily soldiers preparing for deployment. Hasan officially faced court-martial in 2013, was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, and sentenced to death.

He represented himself at trial and did little to disguise his motive. He acknowledged carrying out the attack and argued that he was acting to defend Taliban fighters against American forces. The Military Times reported that when asked whom he believed he was defending, Hasan identified the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban.

Years of military appeals have followed.

Under law, death sentences require presidential approval under the military justice system. After those appeals have completed, Hegseth recommended execution by firing squad. Trump approved the recommendation and Telle then issued the Army order establishing the date and location of the execution.

The Army is now preparing to execute Hasan at the very place where his crimes occurred.

For the families of those killed and wounded, that location carries an obvious significance. CBS Texas reported that families were notified by email about the scheduled execution and were asked whether they wished to attend.

The firing squad.

If the execution occurs as scheduled, it will be the first U.S. military execution since 1961 and the first Army firing-squad execution since 1945, according to Stars and Stripes magazine. The last military prisoner executed was Army Pvt. John Bennett, who was hanged at Fort Leavenworth in 1961. The last known Army firing-squad execution was Pvt. Eddie Slovik, who was executed in France for desertion during World War II.

Hasan’s case demonstrates just how lengthy the process can become. Another Army prisoner, Pvt. Ronald Gray, had his death sentence approved by President George W. Bush in 2008, but legal proceedings prevented his execution. He remains on military death row.

For Texans, however, the immediate reality is straightforward. The man responsible for one of the deadliest attacks ever carried out on a U.S. military installation is scheduled to face the consequences at the same installation where he murdered those soldiers.

The military took 17 years to reach this point. 17 years the citizens have housed, fed & cared for this terrorist. Finally, the clock is running down.