Pentagon Plans Livestreamed Military Firing Squad Execution of Fort Hood Shooter
The scheduled lethal shooting would mark the first United States military execution in decades and the first publicly broadcast American execution in modern history.
The Pentagon will execute convicted Fort Hood gunman Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad and livestream the event online for the public, defense officials announced. The execution is scheduled for Dec. 3, 2026, at 1 p.m. local time at Fort Hood, Texas.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the execution date during an interview aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that President Donald Trump approved the firing squad recommendation earlier in the week.
Hegseth said Hasan will face a firing squad of soldiers. He explained that officials want the public to watch so people understand that actions carry serious consequences. He noted that the execution time, weekday and location match the 2009 attack.
An anonymous Pentagon official confirmed that the execution will be livestreamed, with further procedural details coming later. Hegseth added that he did not care if Hasan had final requests. The White House referred questions about the livestream to the Defense Department.
Hasan is a former Army major and psychiatrist who opened fire on unarmed troops at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009. The service members were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 others.
Responding police officers shot Hasan during the attack, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Hasan uses a wheelchair and is imprisoned at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
At his 2013 court-martial, Hasan represented himself and admitted to the shooting. He stated that he carried out the attack to protect fellow Muslims from American troops. Hasan exhausted his military appeals in 2025, allowing the Defense Department to send the case to the president.
The military has not executed anyone since April 13, 1961, when Army Private John A. Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder. The armed forces last used a firing squad on Nov. 9, 1945, when Private Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion.
Public executions are virtually unprecedented in modern American history. The last recorded public execution in the United States occurred on Aug. 14, 1936, when Rainey Bethea was hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Pentagon officials are expected to publish formal operational guidance and broadcasting protocols for the public livestream. Military legal experts noted that defense attorneys could file a habeas corpus petition in federal civilian court. That legal action has the potential to halt or postpone the execution.
