The U.S. will livestream the Army’s upcoming firing squad execution on Dec. 3 of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in a 2009 shooting spree, a Pentagon official said, in what would be an unprecedented move.
Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, is set to become the first person to be executed by firing squad by the U.S. military since 1945, shortly after the end of World War II.
The Pentagon official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not offer more information and said details would follow.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier told the Human Events Daily podcast he planned to make Hasan’s execution public, according to video of his comments posted on social media on Thursday.
Hegseth said deciding to execute Hasan by firing squad at Fort Hood on a Thursday at 1 p.m. — the approximate time, day of the week and location of Hasan’s shooting — was a “no-brainer.”
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public. Because people need to understand that … there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said.
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell announced Monday that Hegseth had recommended death by Army firing squad for Hasan, and President Donald Trump approved the decision.
“He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack,” Parnell wrote.
The date and location were announced Wednesday.
“The execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad will take place at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday, December 3rd, 2026, at 1 p.m. CT.,” acting Army Secretary Adam Telle announced, confirming that the location would return Hasan to the site of the murders.
If the date and method of execution are carried out, it would mark the first such case for the service since Jan. 31, 1945, when Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik was executed by a U.S. Army firing squad in France for desertion during World War II.
The last death sentence carried out by the U.S. military was in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was executed by hanging at the gallows in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after he was convicted of raping and attempting to kill a young girl.
Hasan, who was born in northern Virginia, walked into a Fort Hood readiness processing center on Nov. 5, 2009, and opened fire using a semi-automatic handgun. Thirteen people were killed, including a pregnant soldier.
At his court-martial, Hasan, now 56, admitted to the shooting, and in 2013, said he carried out the attack in support of the Taliban.
Hasan was convicted by a military jury in August 2013, which recommended he be sentenced to death. He was subsequently transferred to Fort Leavenworth, where he has been incarcerated on death row.
