Key actors — tap for context
Nidal Hasan
former major and psychiatrist in the US Army, sentenced to death in 2013 for the attack at Fort Hood
Why here: The Pentagon calls him a "convicted terrorist," and Trump approved the execution
More info →
Donald Trump
US President
Why here: Under federal law, the president must approve the execution of a military prisoner
More info →
Pete Hegseth
Pentagon chief
Why here: According to a Pentagon spokesman, he recommended execution by shooting
More info →Sean Parnell
Pentagon spokesman
Why here: Announced the approval on X
Fort Hood
army base in Texas near the city of Killeen
Why here: In November 2009, Hasan killed 13 people there
More info →What the Pentagon announced
On X, Parnell wrote that Hegseth "recommended, and President Trump approved" the execution by shooting, to be carried out by the US Army. According to his post, the Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution, and for Hasan, in Parnell's words, "the day of reckoning has finally arrived." n-tv ↗ Under army rules, which VG cites with reference to Good Morning America, the execution must take place no earlier than 60 and no later than 150 days after the president's approval. If the period is counted from the announcement on October 5, the window runs from December 4, 2026 to March 4, 2027. However, the sources do not say when exactly the president signed the approval. VG ↗Under federal law, a death sentence imposed by a military court cannot be carried out without the president's consent. The last soldier executed after a court-martial was John Bennett, who was hanged at Fort Leavenworth in 1961. CNBC ↗
Who Hasan is and what he did
Hasan, then a major and army psychiatrist, shot and killed 13 people on November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas: twelve soldiers and one civilian. In 2013, a military court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Spiegel, n-tv and VG describe the attack as inspired by al-Qaeda. n-tv ↗ VG ↗ The attack is the deadliest shooting on a US military base. Investigators found that Hasan had communicated with the radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, later a leading figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. AGI ↗During the trial, Hasan represented himself and formally pleaded not guilty, but he did not call witnesses, did not testify and did not try to refute the charges. AGI ↗ Defense attorneys assigned by the court feared that he wanted to be executed. VG ↗ According to Spiegel, he claimed he shot his colleagues because the US was waging an "illegal war" against Muslims in Afghanistan. Spiegel ↗
A new era, new language
The vocabulary has changed. According to the Daily Mail, the Defense Department once classified the attack as workplace violence, not terrorism, whereas today's announcement speaks of a "jihadist" and a "convicted terrorist." Daily Mail ↗ At the same time, this is part of a broader line taken by Trump's administration: this year the Justice Department added execution by shooting to the approved methods and is expanding the use of the federal death penalty. NPR ↗ According to the Daily Mail, which cites the Death Penalty Information Center, federal protocols did not include it until now. Five states currently permit it: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah. Daily Mail ↗ Spiegel notes that the news comes amid a debate over the death penalty following the botched execution of Christy Pike. Spiegel ↗What is not yet clear
The date and place of the execution are not yet known. The sources also differ on the number of wounded: AGI reports 32, while the German n-tv reports 30. AGI ↗ n-tv ↗ It is also unclear whether the defense will try to challenge the method of execution or its approval in court.What hotinfo is watching
- Či armáda oznámi termín a miesto popravy.
- Či Hasanova obhajoba podá právny návrh proti spôsobu alebo schváleniu popravy.
- Či sa poprava vykoná v zákonnom okne medzi 60 a 150 dňami.
*Lead photo: Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at a memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood shooting, November 10, 2009. Photo by Chad J. McNeeley, US Department of Defense, public domain (Wikimedia Commons).*
