Fort Hood Shooter Hasan’s Execution Will Be Public: Pete Hegseth

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the public will be able to watch the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.

Speaking to Real America’s Voice on Thursday, Hegseth said soldiers would carry out the execution by firing squad at the Texas military installation on December 3. His announcement follows President Donald Trump’s approval of the execution earlier this week.

“And we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public because people need to understand that what this is, there's serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said.

HOW WOULD THE PUBLIC WATCH?

The arrangements for public viewing remain uncertain.

Axios reported that the Pentagon said the execution would be livestreamed, but no platform was identified. The report also said the Defence Department declined to elaborate on Hegseth’s remarks, leaving questions about whether spectators would be admitted or access would be provided through a broadcast.

Hegseth called the decision a “no-brainer” and said the choice of location, day of the week and time was intended to mirror the circumstances of Hasan’s attack.

“And it's going to be soldiers with rifles executing the firing squad,” he said.

FIRST US MILITARY EXECUTION SINCE 1961

If carried out, Hasan’s execution would be the first by the US military since 1961, according to Axios.

The military’s last execution by firing squad was in 1945, when Private Eddie Slovik was shot for desertion in France, NPR reported, as cited by Axios.

A public execution would also mark a departure from decades of US practice. The country’s last public execution took place in 1936, when Rainey Bethea was hanged in Kentucky, according to Axios.

Firing-squad executions remain rare. South Carolina carried out one in 2025, the first in the United States in 15 years.

TRUMP APPROVED THE EXECUTION

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced earlier this week that Hegseth had recommended Hasan’s execution by firing squad and Trump had approved it.

“US War Secretary Pete Hegseth has recommended, and President Donald J Trump has approved, death by US Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan,” Parnell wrote on X.

He said the Army secretary would determine the time and place. Hegseth subsequently identified Fort Hood and December 3 in his interview.

THE ATTACK THAT KILLED 13

Hasan was an Army major and psychiatrist when he opened fire at a medical processing facility at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009. The base was a major staging point for troops preparing to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Twelve soldiers and a civilian were killed, and more than 30 people were wounded. Responding civilian police officers shot Hasan, leaving him partially paralysed.

A military jury sentenced him to death in 2013. During his court-martial, Hasan represented himself and neither testified nor called witnesses.

Prosecutors argued that the attack was inspired by Al-Qaeda. Trial evidence included his opposition to US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and online communications with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric linked to Al-Qaeda who was later killed in a US drone strike in Yemen.

With inputs from ANI