The execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan on December 3rd will be public, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday. Nidal Malik Hasan, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist, was convicted of murdering 13 people — 12 military personnel and one civilian — at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009.
Pete Hegseth: “We’ll make sure people are able to watch it”
On Tuesday, Donald Trump greenlit the execution, which will be the first carried out by the U.S. armed forces in 65 years. Hegseth said Hasan “is going to face a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be. We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it — that it’s public.” As he explained, “people need to understand that there are serious consequences for these types of things.”
Hegseth on Nidal Hasan: "He's gonna get a firing squad of soldiers. As it should be. 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." pic.twitter.com/Aaw2wDjpgi
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2026
Nidal Hasan: The Fort Hood attack and the death sentence
Hasan had expressed his opposition to the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which he considered unlawful. During the attack, he was shot and wounded and has since been partially paralyzed. He was sentenced to death by a military court in 2013.
Hasan’s execution will be the first military execution in the United States since 1961, when soldier John Bennett was executed after being convicted of rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria.
