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The execution would be the U.S. military’s first execution by firing squad since World War II.
Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images
The Pentagon said Thursday that it will livestream the firing squad execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is scheduled to be put to death later this year for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood.
The Pentagon made the announcement after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters earlier Thursday that Hasan’s execution would be open to the public.
“We’ll make sure that people are able to to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said.
Hasan, who killed 13 people and injured 32 others at the U.S. Army post at Fort Hood in 2009, is scheduled to face a firing squad on Dec. 3 at the same Fort Hood post at 1 p.m. — the exact time the 2009 attack began. President Donald Trump last week approved the execution, marking the the first military execution by a firing squad since World War II. The last military execution was the hanging of Army Pvt. John A. Bennett at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in April 1961.
Attorneys for Hasan could still seek to delay the execution through court challenges. The plans also raise questions about how the Army will comply with its existing execution guidelines that state that “No person under the age of 18 shall witness the execution.”
In 2009, Hasan opened fire in a crowded waiting room where troops were getting final medical checkups before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. Hasan, who opposed U.S. military operations in Muslim-majority countries, became paralyzed after being shot by civilian police officers responding to the attack. In 2013, Hasan was sentenced to death after a military jury of 13 convicted him of premeditated murder.
Hasan is one of four people on the military’s death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Asked whether Hasan had made a final plea to the Trump administration, Hegseth said, “Don’t care. We’ll see him on Dec. 3.”
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
