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President Donald Trump has approved the execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, the military psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, setting the stage for the first U.S. military execution since 1961.
Hasan is scheduled to be executed by an Army firing squad on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, according to an email sent to victims’ families and obtained by CBS News Texas. The method was recommended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and approved by Trump, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Monday.
The execution would mark an unusually rare use of a firing squad and the first time the U.S. military has carried out a death sentence since 1961, when an Army soldier was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder.
Hasan remains eligible to pursue further legal challenges that could delay the execution.
Hasan convicted after Fort Hood massacre
Hasan was convicted in a 2013 court-martial of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder for the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, now known as Fort Cavazos.
He opened fire inside a medical processing facility as soldiers prepared to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan. Thirteen people were killed and 32 were wounded.
Hasan acknowledged during his court-martial that he was responsible for the shooting. He argued that he had acted to protect Muslim insurgents from U.S. military forces.
A military jury sentenced him to death, making him one of only a handful of people ever placed on the military’s death row.
Supreme Court rejected Hasan’s appeal
Hasan’s case has remained in litigation for years.
He represented himself during much of his court-martial, while court-appointed standby attorneys raised concerns that he was intentionally pursuing a death sentence.
In 2024, Hasan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether a military judge had violated his constitutional right to a public trial by clearing the courtroom during discussions involving his relationship with his standby attorneys.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the case in March 2025. The court’s docket shows that Hasan’s petition, No. 24-5225, was denied March 31, 2025.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces had previously upheld Hasan’s conviction and death sentence.
Hasan’s Supreme Court petition also raised broader constitutional challenges to the military death penalty and the way his sentence was imposed, including arguments concerning the method and location of his eventual execution.
Firing squad would be rare in the United States
The planned execution would also highlight the growing debate over alternatives to lethal injection.
Firing squads have historically been uncommon in the United States, although several states have recently revived the method amid concerns about lethal-injection drugs and difficulties obtaining or administering them.
South Carolina carried out three firing-squad executions in 2025, the first such executions in the country since 2010.
The federal government has traditionally relied on lethal injection for civilian executions. Earlier this year, the Justice Department instructed federal officials to consider alternatives including firing squads, electrocution and lethal gas.
Hasan’s execution would therefore represent a rare intersection of military justice and the broader national debate over how governments carry out capital punishment.
Trump administration resumes military death penalty
The decision also represents a significant exercise of presidential authority over military capital punishment.
Trump’s approval allows the military to move forward with the execution after Hasan exhausted his direct appeals, although additional federal litigation could still affect the schedule.
Only four people, including Hasan, are currently on military death row, according to The Associated Press. The military has not executed a service member since 1961.
The last military execution to receive presidential approval occurred under President George W. Bush in 2008, but that execution was ultimately stayed by a federal judge.
For Hasan, the Dec. 3 date would bring the government closer to carrying out a sentence imposed more than 13 years ago.
The Army is expected to formally establish the time and location of the execution.
