Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas on December 3, and the public will be able to watch it, ABC News reports. A Pentagon official told the network that the execution will be live-streamed.
The execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas is scheduled to take place on December 3 at 1 p.m. CST, according to an announcement from the Army. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle directed the execution on October 6, following the approval of the death penalty for Hasan by President Donald Trump on October 2. Pursuant to Army Regulation 190-55, the date of execution is set between 60 and 150 days after the President approves a sentence of death; in this case it will be the military’s first execution since 1961 and its first by firing squad since 1945.
In a media appearance, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth explained why he wanted the execution to be public: “He’s gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be. We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it. That it’s public. Because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said in the appearance, which was shared by Aaron Rupar on X. Hegseth explained that Fort Hood was chosen as the site of the execution because that’s where the shootings occurred. The time of 1 p.m. was picked because that was roughly the time that the shooting began.
In the Pentagon's announcement of the president's approval on Monday, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said Hegseth "recommended" and Trump "approved" death by U.S. Army firing squad, and that "judgement day for Hasan has finally come." Hegseth followed up by reposting the announcement on X with a single word: "Justice."
John Galligan, a civilian attorney for Hasan and a retired Army colonel and former military judge at Fort Hood, called the decision to hold the execution at Fort Hood "political theater," ABC News reported. Galligan said the Army is pushing to carry out the execution as quickly as possible, and that making the execution public is "not great for the confidence in our system of justice." Hasan is currently being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Galligan expressed concern that Hasan, who is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair as a result of injuries from the shooting, would have to be moved from Kansas to Fort Hood in order to carry out the execution.
The Supreme Court declined to review the conviction of Nidal Hasan for the murders of 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 on March 31, 2025. Galligan said a habeas corpus petition in federal court is "a distinct possibility," which could further delay the date of execution of the Army psychiatrist. Hasan was informed of the approval of his death sentence late at night, with no defense attorney present, and Galligan described him as being calm.
A number of questions still have not been answered about the manner of execution, including how the soldiers who make up the firing squad will be chosen and on which platform the live stream will run. The Army's most detailed procedures for firing squads were written in 1959 and are currently being updated, ABC reported, citing a service official.
