US President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of former US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.
The decision was announced on Monday by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a post on X, saying US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended the execution and 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 said.
He added that the Secretary of the Army would determine the time and location of the execution.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at the time of the attack, was convicted by a military jury in 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.
He opened fire on November 5, 2009, at Fort
Hood, Texas, while soldiers were undergoing processing for deployment.
The attack left 13 people dead and 32 others injured.
Hasan was subsequently sentenced to death following his court-martial.
The presidential approval begins the process for his execution, although no date has yet been announced.
The Army Secretary is expected to determine when and where the sentence will be carried out.
If executed by firing squad, Hasan would become the first person executed by the US military since 1961.
