The US military has scheduled its first execution by firing squad in more than eight decades for December 3.
Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle announced the date in a social media post. The execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, 54, will take place at Fort Hood in Texas, the same base where he killed 13 people in November 2009. The announcement came one day after Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed that President Donald Trump had approved the method.
Parnell wrote on social media: “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended, and President Donald J Trump has approved, Death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.”
He continued: “The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.”
The scheduling follows a broader push by the Trump administration to expand and expedite capital punishment. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement: “The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers.”
Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 after admitting to the rampage at trial. He told jurors he had “switched sides” in what he described as America’s war with Islam. Government lawyers said he sought to stop soldiers from being deployed to kill fellow Muslims, while also noting he faced an impending deployment to Afghanistan himself.
The Department of Defense classified the attack as workplace violence rather than terrorism, a designation that drew criticism from victims’ families and lawmakers. Hasan was shot during the incident and left paralyzed from the waist down.
Despite the scheduled date, procedural delays remain possible. Hasan could file a habeas corpus appeal in the civilian federal court system, potentially stalling the execution for years, according to an article published in May in Army Lawyer magazine. The military’s last execution occurred 65 years ago.
The firing squad method has seen limited use in modern American history. At least 144 civilian prisoners have been executed by shooting in the United States since 1608, nearly all in Utah. Only four such executions have taken place since capital punishment resumed in 1977. The first of those, Gary Gilmore, waived his appeals and volunteered, responding “Let’s do it” when asked for final words. More recently, South Carolina inmate Brad Sigmon was executed by firing squad in March 2025.
Five states currently permit the method: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah. The Justice Department announced earlier this year that it would adopt firing squads as a permitted federal execution method.
On the morning of November 5, 2009, Hasan entered the Fort Hood medical readiness building carrying two firearms and multiple ammunition magazines. Witnesses reported that he shouted “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” before opening fire on soldiers who were waiting for medical tests and vaccines. The attack killed 13 people and wounded 32 others, making it the deadliest assault on a domestic military installation in US history. Hasan was apprehended after being shot by base police, the bullets leaving him permanently paralyzed.
The Army has not indicated whether additional procedural announcements are expected before December.