Nidal Hasan Execution: After Trump’s Approval, US Army Sets Date for First Military Firing Squad in 65 Years

Former US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is set to be executed by firing squad on December 3, 2026, marking the first US military execution in more than six decades.

The Army has scheduled Hasan’s execution for 1 p.m. Central Time at Fort Hood, Texas, the same military installation where he carried out the deadly 2009 shooting that left 13 people dead and 32 others wounded.

The execution date was confirmed in a memorandum dated October 6 and signed by Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle.

The memo, addressed to senior Army corrections officials, states that President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s death sentence on October 2.

“On 2 October 2026, the President of the United States, in the enclosed action, approved the sentence of death adjudged in the case of United States v. Major Hasan, Nidal M.”

“This execution will take place at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday, 3 December 2026, at 1300 Central Standard Time, by firing squad, in accordance with AR 190-55. The execution officer will be the Commandant of United States Disciplinary Barracks,” it says.

If carried out as scheduled, Hasan’s execution would be the first by the US military since 1961. It would also be the first US military firing squad execution since 1945.

Trump approves execution of Nidal Hasan

The Army’s announcement came after Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that Trump had approved the firing squad execution.

Parnell said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended the execution and that Trump had approved it.

“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,” Parnell wrote on social media.

“The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgment day for Hasan has finally come.”

The Army subsequently issued the October 6 memorandum setting December 3 as the execution date and Fort Hood as the location.

However, the scheduled date does not necessarily mean the execution will definitely take place on December 3.

Hasan may still pursue additional legal avenues, including a habeas corpus petition in the civilian federal court system, potentially delaying the execution. The Associated Press reported that such legal proceedings could affect the timetable.

What did Nidal Hassan do at Fort Hood in 2009?

Hasan carried out the shooting on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, Texas.

The former Army psychiatrist opened fire at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where service members were undergoing medical processing before deployment.

Thirteen people were killed and 32 others wounded in the attack.

Hasan was shot during the rampage and was left paralyzed from the waist down.

At his 2013 court-martial, Hasan represented himself and acknowledged that he was responsible for the shooting.

Further, he told the military jury that he had “switched sides” in what he described as a war between the United States and Muslims.

The military jury convicted him of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and sentenced him to death.

His case subsequently went through years of military and federal legal proceedings.