Trump approves firing squad for Fort Hood shooter. Here's what happens next

President Donald Trump has approved the execution by Army firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, according to The Associated Press. If carried out, it would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961.

## What happened

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the decision on X. "President Donald J. Trump has approved – death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan," he wrote, according to Agence France-Presse. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the sentence, AFP reported.

"Judgement day for Hasan has finally come," Parnell also wrote, according to AP.

## The 2009 attack

Hasan, then an Army major, opened fire inside a medical building at Fort Hood where soldiers were getting checkups, AP reported. He killed 13 people and wounded more than 30.

At his trial, Hasan told jurors the evidence would show he was the shooter. He described himself as a soldier who had "switched sides" and said he acted to stop troops from deploying to Afghanistan, according to AP. He was sentenced to death for the attack, ABC News reported.

## How rare this is

The last U.S. military execution took place in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for rape, AP reported. Four people are currently on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

An execution approval issued in 2008 for Army Spc. Ronald Gray remains on hold in the courts, according to AP.

## What happens next

The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution, according to the Pentagon statement reported by AFP and AP.

That does not mean an execution is imminent. Hasan can still challenge his sentence through habeas corpus petitions in federal civilian court, which could delay the process for years, AP reported. The Gray case shows how long that can take: his execution was approved in 2008 and has not happened.

## The wider debate

The decision comes as executions in the U.S. face new scrutiny. In Tennessee, death row prisoner Christa Pike survived a failed lethal injection last week and remains hospitalized. Asked about that case, Trump said lethal injections "shouldn't be very difficult" to carry out, according to AP.

Supporters of the death penalty say Hasan's crime, an attack on unarmed soldiers on a U.S. base, is exactly the kind of case capital punishment exists for. Opponents argue the death penalty should be abolished regardless of the crime, and point to failed executions as evidence that the process is flawed.

## What it means for you

The approval sets up a long legal fight in federal court that will test how military executions work after more than 60 years without one. Watch for any announced date from the Army and for Hasan's lawyers to file new challenges.