Former Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood should be executed by firing squad

The former U.S. Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009 will be executed by firing squad, officials announced Monday.

Defense Department chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the firing squad death of Nidal Hasan was recommended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and approved by President Donald Trump.

This would be the first time the US military has executed someone using this method since World War II.

Hasan is a former Army major and psychiatrist who opened fire at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others while shouting “Allahu akbar,” Parnell said.

He was convicted of premeditated murder in 2013 and sentenced to death.

Prosecutors alleged he was motivated by his refusal to deploy to Afghanistan and a sense of duty to the jihad of killing as many U.S. troops as possible, although a joint counterterrorism task force determined he “was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist plans,” and authorities said he acted alone.

An Army prosecutor, Col. Steve Henricks, told the jury that Hasan created a “personal kill zone” at Fort Hood on the day of the attack.

Hasan acted as his own lawyer during the trial and was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in 2013.

Acting Military Secretary Adam R. Telle will set the time and location of the execution, Parnell said, adding, “The day of reckoning for Hasan has finally arrived.”

Army Pvt. John Bennett was the last serviceman to be executed by the US military – in 1961 by hanging. Pvt. Eddie Slovik was the last soldier to be executed by firing squad in 1945, for desertion during World War II.