Trump approves firing squad execution of Fort Hood gunman, potentially first US military execution since 1961

Hasan, a former U.S. Army psychiatrist, was sentenced to death by a military jury in 2013 after being convicted of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder.

Trump did not impose the death sentence. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, however, a death sentence handed down by a court-martial cannot be carried out until it is approved by the president.

Trump approved Hasan’s execution by U.S. Army firing squad on the recommendation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Oct. 5. The Secretary of the Army will determine the time and place of the execution.

If the sentence is carried out, Hasan would become the first U.S. service member executed by the military since 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged. The last known U.S. military execution by firing squad took place in November 1945, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Firing squads are among several execution methods recently added by the Trump administration for the most serious federal crimes, alongside electrocution and gas asphyxiation. The expansion comes amid difficulties obtaining drugs for lethal injections and problems carrying out the procedure.

Last week, Tennessee officials halted the execution of death-row prisoner Christa Pike after attempts to administer a lethal injection failed. Pike was left unconscious and hospitalized on life support.

Hasan opened fire at a medical facility at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, killing 12 active-duty soldiers and one retired service member and wounding 32 others. He later said the attack was retaliation for U.S. wars in the Muslim world.

Hasan, now 56, was shot by police during his arrest and has since been partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair.