Hasan Execution Set for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, First by U.S. Military Since 1961

Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army major convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, is scheduled to be executed by Army firing squad on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, Texas. According to Fox News and ABC News, it would be the first execution carried out by the U.S. military in more than 60 years.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the event will be public, even though Army regulations limit who may witness an execution. A Pentagon official told ABC News it will be live-streamed. Hasan's civilian attorney disputes the approach.

What officials have announced

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on X that Hegseth recommended, and President Donald Trump approved, death by Army firing squad for Hasan, according to Fox News. The date and location were confirmed by acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, Fox News reported.

Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in the 2009 attack on unarmed soldiers and civilians. He remains on military death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Fox News reported. The last military execution was in 1961, and the military last used a firing squad in 1945, according to Fox News.

Why the execution is meant to be public

In an interview with the outlet Human Events, Hegseth said the department would make sure people can watch, because people need to understand there are serious consequences for such acts, ABC News reported. He said the time, 1 p.m. CT, was chosen to match when Hasan began the 2009 attack. Fort Hood was picked because the shooting happened there.

ABC News noted that Army regulations allow witnesses that can include victims' families and at least two media outlets. The Pentagon official's statement about a live stream goes beyond that, though the sources do not explain how the two fit together.

What Hasan's lawyer says

John Galligan, Hasan's civilian attorney, told ABC News that the regulations are very specific about how many people may be present. He described Hegseth's decisions on carrying out the execution as political theater.

What survivors say

Retired Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot several times, including once in the head, told Fox News he plans to attend. He said he believes it could let survivors and the families of the dead close a chapter, and that it sends a message that such acts will not be tolerated in the armed forces or the United States.

Lunsford said holidays are no longer the same for him and others affected, and that families of those killed will not get to spend them with their loved ones again.

What this means

For survivors and victims' families, the date gives a concrete endpoint to a case that has run since 2009, and some may be able to attend as witnesses under the Army's rules. For the public, the Pentagon's plan to live-stream would make a military execution viewable in a way the regulations, as described by ABC News, do not clearly provide. Whether the live stream proceeds as described, and how it squares with the witness limits, has not been spelled out in the sources.

What happens next

The execution is set for Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. CT at Fort Hood. The sources do not say whether Hasan's attorney plans any legal challenge to the plan.

Sources: Fox News, ABC News, The Guardian