Who Is Nidal Hasan? Trump Backs Army Firing Squad as Pentagon Says 'Judgement Day' Has Come

The Pentagon announced on Monday, 5 October, that Donald Trump had approved the execution of Nidal Hasan by US Army firing squad for the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood in Texas.

Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was sentenced to death in 2013 for killing 13 people. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X, 'The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.'

Nidal Hasan's Background and the Fort Hood Attack

Nidal Malik Hasan was born in the US to parents of Palestinian origin who had become naturalised American citizens. They had emigrated years earlier from al-Bireh, a city in the West Bank near Jerusalem, and raised him and his two younger brothers in the Muslim faith.

Hasan was serving as an Army psychiatrist when he opened fire on 5 November 2009 at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, a medical facility at Fort Hood. The base served as a staging point for soldiers preparing to deploy to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Twelve soldiers and one civilian were killed. Parnell put the number of wounded at 32. Thirty of those injured were soldiers, according to the account of the shooting.

A civilian police officer responding to the shooting shot Hasan, leaving him partially paralysed. He was subsequently arrested.

Court Proceedings and Trial Evidence

Hasan was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. A military jury sentenced him to death. He was also dismissed from the Army.

The court heard that he opposed the US military's operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jurors were also told about his online contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric, al-Qaida propagandist and American citizen who was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen.

Hasan represented himself at trial but called no witnesses and did not testify. He did not attempt to deny the charges, while court-appointed defence lawyers expressed concern that he was seeking execution.

Lead prosecutor Colonel Michael Mulligan addressed the question of martyrdom in his final statement, rejecting the idea that Hasan's execution would amount to a sacrifice.

'[Hasan] can never be a martyr because he has nothing to give ... Do not be misled; do not be confused; do not be fooled. He is not giving his life. We are taking his life. This is not his gift to God, it's his debt to society. He will not now and will not ever be a martyr.'

Trump's Approval and Execution Method

Parnell attributed the choice of firing squad to a recommendation from Pete Hegseth, which Trump approved. His statement described the method as 'death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan'.

If the execution is carried out, it would be the first US military execution since 1961 and the first US military firing-squad execution in more than 80 years. The last known US military firing-squad execution was in 1945.

Hasan remains on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His conviction and death sentence were upheld through the military appeals process, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal on 31 March 2025. Further legal proceedings could still delay the execution.

Parnell's announcement did not include a date or location for the execution.