Trump Greenlights Rare Army Execution

October 7, 2026

military uniform with embroidered name tape and flag patch — Photo: Niyazz / Shutterstock

For the first time since 1961, the U.S. military plans to carry out an execution — by Army firing squad — for convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, with a date shared to victims’ families.

Story Highlights

Pentagon spokesman said President Trump approved death by U.S. Army firing squad for Nidal Hasan.
Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 for killing 13 and wounding 32 at Fort Hood in 2009.
The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution, per Pentagon statement.
Reports say an email to families lists December 3, 2026, as the execution date at Fort Hood.

What The Pentagon Announced

Pentagon reporting says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended, and President Trump approved, death by U.S. Army firing squad for Nidal Malik Hasan. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated that the Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. This approval confirms the method and moves the case from policy debate to planning. It also signals federal resolve in a rare military capital case. The announcement centers on official authority and process, not rhetoric.

Several outlets report that an email to victims’ families listed December 3, 2026, at Fort Hood as the execution date. That date did not appear in the public Pentagon language cited in those same reports, which focused on the method and delegated scheduling to the Army secretary. Army policy cited by ABC News describes a window for carrying out an execution after presidential approval, which frames how planners may time the event. Further legal motions could still affect timing.

Who Hasan Is And What He Did

Nidal Hasan is a former Army major and psychiatrist who opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. The attack killed 13 people and wounded 32 others, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings on a U.S. military post. A military jury convicted Hasan and sentenced him to death in 2013. He has been on military death row since that time. The confirmed facts of the case and the sentence have stood through years of post-trial review in the military justice system.

This case returns public attention to the military death penalty, which the United States has not used since 1961. If carried out, the execution would be the first by the armed forces in more than six decades, and the first using a firing squad in the modern era of military capital punishment. The rarity underscores how unusual this step is. It also explains why the method itself, not just the sentence, has become a core part of the story for many Americans.

Why The Method And Timing Matter

The Pentagon’s approval of an Army firing squad is specific. Reports emphasize that the choice is not a generic execution, but a named method under Army control. That clarity answers a long-running question about how, not just whether, the military would carry out a death sentence. ABC News noted internal timing rules that say an execution should occur within a set window after approval, offering a practical frame for next steps. Planning now shifts to the Army secretary.

🚨 BREAKING: Nidal Hasan, who killed 12 soldiers and 1 civilian at Fort Hood in 2009, will be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. CT, the Army says.

It would be the first US military execution since 1961 and the first Army firing-squad execution since WWII. pic.twitter.com/dGLz3D9Xf1

— Flash Update (@flashupdatenews) October 7, 2026

The reported December 3, 2026 date comes from family notifications covered by CBS outlets, not from a publicly posted Army order in the cited material. That creates a two-track picture: a confirmed method and authority on one track, and a reported target date on the other. For families, the date offers a concrete marker after years of delay. For the public, the method and the long gap since 1961 highlight a system that rarely reaches this end point, yet now intends to do so.