Trump approves firing squad execution for Nidal Hasan

President Donald Trump has approved the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan by U.S. Army firing squad, following a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement posted October 5. The execution has not been scheduled or carried out. Parnell said the Secretary of the Army would determine its time and place. The approval advances the military death sentence imposed on Hasan, but does not establish when an execution could take place. The announcement did not provide a schedule. Hasan may also pursue further legal proceedings, which could delay implementation. A military jury convicted Hasan in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder for the November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, according to reports on the court-martial. He was sentenced to death and is held at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Hasan, then an Army psychiatrist, opened fire on soldiers at a medical readiness facility. Parnell’s statement said 13 people were killed and 32 wounded. Some reports gave a different wounded total, and the available accounts do not explain the discrepancy.