The convicted Fort Hood gunman who killed 13 people in one of the deadliest attacks on a U.S. military installation is scheduled to face a firing squad in December, and the Pentagon says the execution will be open to the public.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Thursday that former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan is scheduled to be executed Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. at Fort Hood, Texas, the same military installation where he carried out the deadly 2009 shooting.
The execution would mark a historic moment for the U.S. military. It would be the first military execution in more than 60 years and the first carried out by firing squad since World War II.
A Pentagon official also said that the execution will be livestreamed, an unprecedented step in modern American capital punishment.
Hegseth said the decision to make the execution public is intended to send a message about the consequences of attacks against American service members.
“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 told Real America's Voice during an interview aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The 2009 Fort Hood Massacre
On Nov. 5, 2009, Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire inside a soldier processing center at Fort Hood, where troops were preparing for deployment to Afghanistan.
Armed with a personally owned handgun, Hasan killed 12 soldiers and one civilian while wounding 32 others.
The attack remains the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. military installation.
Witnesses reported hearing Hasan shout “Allahu akbar,” an Arabic phrase meaning “God is great,” as the shooting unfolded.
Civilian security officers eventually stopped the attack, shooting Hasan four times before taking him into custody. The injuries left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Hasan, an American-born Muslim, later acknowledged carrying out the shooting and claimed he had changed allegiances because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had been scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan the following month.
During his 2013 military trial, Hasan represented himself and made little effort to dispute his responsibility for the attack.
“The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter,” he told the court in his opening statement.
A military jury convicted Hasan in August 2013 of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder. He was sentenced to death and dismissed from the Army.
His case spent years moving through the military appeals system before the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final petition in April 2025.
Hasan has remained incarcerated at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as one of four inmates on military death row.
Hegseth Pushes for Execution After Years of Appeals
Hegseth has repeatedly argued that Hasan should face the death penalty without further delays.
In September 2025, the defense secretary said he had requested President Donald Trump's final approval to move forward with the execution.
“The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays,” Hegseth said.
Trump approved the recommendation earlier this week, clearing the way for the Army to schedule Hasan's execution.
Hegseth said the military deliberately selected the same day of the week and approximate time of day as the original shooting.
“Of course we’re going to do it at Fort Hood. We’re going to do it on a Thursday, we’re going to do it at 1 o’clock, which is when he did it, and it’s going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad,” Hegseth said.
The decision to return Hasan to Fort Hood for the execution also brings the case back to the installation where the attack occurred nearly 17 years ago.
A Public Execution Unlike Any in Modern U.S. History
The announcement that Hasan's execution will be publicly accessible raises new questions about how the military intends to carry it out.
Under existing Army regulations, at least two news organizations may be allowed to witness a military execution. However, a livestream would go considerably further than the media access traditionally provided in capital punishment cases.
No lawful execution in the United States has ever been broadcast live, and the country's last public execution took place in 1936.
The Pentagon has not yet provided full details about how the livestream would work, who would be allowed to attend in person or whether public access would be subject to restrictions.
The execution is scheduled to be carried out by soldiers using rifles, rather than by lethal injection, the method most commonly associated with modern executions in the United States.
Why the Army Chose a Firing Squad
Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle selected the firing squad as the method of execution after Trump approved the death sentence.
The decision follows Army regulations adopted in 2023 that establish procedures for carrying out military executions.
Under those rules, the Army secretary has authority to determine the execution's date, location and method after receiving presidential approval.
The regulations require an execution to take place no sooner than 60 days and no later than 150 days after the president approves the sentence.
Hasan's scheduled execution falls 63 days after Trump's authorization.
The regulations also require officials to consider all lawful and feasible execution methods before making a final determination.
Although the date has been announced, the execution is not necessarily guaranteed to proceed as scheduled. Hasan could still pursue a habeas corpus petition in federal court, potentially seeking a stay that would delay the sentence.
The Military's Last Executions
The U.S. military has not executed a prisoner since 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged following his conviction for the rape and attempted murder of an Austrian girl in 1955.
The last American soldier executed by firing squad was Pvt. Edward Donald Slovik, who was put to death in France on Jan. 31, 1945, after being convicted of desertion during World War II.
Slovik's case was particularly unusual because he was the only American soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, hanging was the more common method used in known U.S. military executions during World War II.
Only one military execution has taken place since Slovik's death.
If Hasan's execution proceeds on Dec. 3, it will end a 65-year period without a U.S. military execution and revive a method of punishment the military has not used in more than eight decades.
Nearly 17 Years After the Attack
For the families of the 13 people killed at Fort Hood, the case has stretched across nearly two decades of criminal proceedings, appeals and legal challenges.
The shooting left lasting scars on the military community and raised difficult questions about security, warning signs and the circumstances that allowed the attack to happen.
Now, with presidential approval secured and an execution date on the calendar, Hasan's case is approaching what could be its final chapter.
