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Trump approves firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter : NPR
NPR • • nation
Key Points:
- President Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, marking the first U.S. military execution in over 60 years and the first firing squad execution since World War II.
- Hasan's execution is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, but it could be delayed if he files a habeas corpus appeal in federal court.
- The choice of firing squad as the execution method may be influenced by recent botched lethal injections, sparking renewed debate over execution methods in the U.S. military and federal systems.
- Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who acted as his own lawyer, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2013, with his appeals exhausted by spring 2025; he is one of four people currently on military death row.
- Experts note that the death penalty is declining in public support and use, with firing squads seen by some as a more humane alternative, though the overall trend shows a diminishing role for capital punishment in the U.S.
