The Pentagon is preparing to formally ask President Trump to authorize the execution of Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who carried out the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.
Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in the deadliest attack on a U.S. military installation. He was sentenced to death in 2013 by a military jury.
Fox News notes that on Nov. 5, Hasan opened fire on soldiers preparing for deployment at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Center:
During his subsequent trial, Hasan admitted to the shooting and claimed it was necessary to protect the “Islamic Empire” from American forces.
The Pentagon had categorized the massacre as an act of “workplace violence,” a decision that drew sharp criticism from lawmakers, victims’ families and national security experts. They argued it obscured the ideological and terrorist motivations behind the attack.
He has been held on death row at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, ever since.
All of Hasan’s appeals have now been exhausted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces upheld the sentence, clearing the way for the case to proceed to the final stage.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a military execution requires multiple layers of approval. Recommendations must pass through military command and the secretary of defense before reaching the president, who has the final say.
Secretary Hegseth left no doubt where he stood on the matter. Speaking to Fox News Digital, he insisted on the ultimate penalty: “I am 100% committed to ensuring the death penalty is carried out for Nidal Hasan,” he said. “This savage terrorist deserves the harshest lawful punishment for his 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays.”
If Trump signs off, it would mark the first military execution since 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria.
No U.S. service member has been executed under military law in the six decades since.
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Under normal circumstances, I would agree to the death sentence. In this particular case, executing him would make him a martyr in the Muslim world. No person should become a martyr to killing anyone. To really punish him, he should have his right hand removed. To eat with his left hand is a sin in a true Muslim society..
Great sign. I see it as their readying the system for the coming military tribunals. Comey will get off on the “low level” stuff for now, but I’m sure we have more serious charges coming for not only him, but other big fish, that will require the military tribunals.
The only issue I have is that it’s taken this long.