Man to face firing squad in first US military execution since World War II

The United States military is set to execute former US Army major Nidal Hasan by firing squad, marking the first military execution using the method since the end of World War II.

Hasan was sentenced to death for killing 13 US soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, on 5 November 2009, in an attack that also left 32 others injured. The shootings remain the deadliest non-combat attack on an American military base.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the execution plan on Monday, saying US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had made the recommendation, which President Donald Trump approved.

“Judgement day for Hasan has finally come,” he wrote on X.

The secretary of the US Army will determine the time and location for the execution, according to Parnell.

Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist from Virginia, carried out the attack inside a crowded medical building where soldiers preparing for deployment were waiting for medical check-ups and vaccinations.

During his 2013 court-martial, Hasan acknowledged that he was the gunman and apologised for “any mistakes”. He also said he believed he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Hasan is among four inmates currently held on the US military’s death row.

Under military law, an execution requires approval from the US president, as well as appellate review and a final judgment on its legality before it can proceed.

The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but it was restored a year later through an executive order signed by then-President Ronald Reagan.

Firing squad executions remain rare in the United States. South Carolina carried out an execution by firing squad last year, making it the state’s first use of the method and the first such execution in the country in 15 years.

Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah are the other states that allow firing squads as an execution method.

Capital punishment remains legally available in 27 states, as well as under the federal government and the US military, although most executions in the country are carried out at state level.

Trump has supported the use of the federal death penalty and restored its use through an executive order on the first day of his administration in January 2025.

The move reversed a moratorium imposed under former President Joe Biden, whose Justice Department had paused federal executions.

Trump’s executive order described capital punishment as “an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens”.

(BBC News)