Daily Mail
· collected 2026-10-07 · by Stephen M. Lepore
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The former Army major turned 'jihadist' who killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood will face execution by firing squad on December 3.
asserted
who → sign → December
Nidal Malik Hasan is set to die at the same military base where he committed a massacre in the first US military execution since 1961.
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he → set → 1961
The date announcement comes just a day after Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed that Donald Trump approved the execution.
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Trump → come → execution
Hasan claimed he launched the terror attack over anger about being deployed to Afghanistan and a desire to protect Islamic and Taliban leaders from US troops.
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he → claim → troops
He was sentenced to death following the 2009 shooting.
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He → sentence → shooting
In a post on social media, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle said the execution of Hasan will take place at Fort Hood over 17 years after the massacre.
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execution → act → massacre
Hasan's execution will be the first carried out by the United States military in 65 years.
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execution → carry → years
Trump´s approval triggered a series of procedural steps toward carrying out the execution, but Hasan could put them on hold - potentially for years - with a habeas corpus appeal in the civilian federal court system, according to an article published in May in the magazine Army Lawyer.
uncertain
Hasan → trigger → magazine
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell declared that Hasan will be just the second person since 2010 to be put to death by a firing squad Monday.
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Hasan → declare → squad
'Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended — and President Donald J. Trump has approved — death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009,' he wrote on social media.
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he → recommend → media
Nidal Malik Hasan (pictured), the former Army major turned 'jihadist' who killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, will face execution by firing squad on December 3
Mourners look at a temporary memorial site setup in front of the Central Christian Church in memory of those killed and wounded at Fort Hood
'He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting 'Allahu Akbar' during the attack,' Parnell added.
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Parnell → picture → attack
'The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution.
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Secretary → set → execution
Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.'
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day → come → Hasan
Hegseth also circulated Parnell's message on X with a one-word reaction: 'Justice.'
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Hegseth → circulate → reaction
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
Hasan walked into a Fort Hood medical readiness building in November 2009 carrying two guns and several magazines of ammunition.
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Hasan → walk → ammunition
He shouted 'Allahu Akbar!' - Arabic for 'God is great!' - and opened fire on soldiers awaiting medical tests and vaccines.
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God → shout → tests
The mass shooting was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in US history
Hasan was shot and paralyzed from the waist down in the resulting gunfire and was sentenced to death in 2013.
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Hasan → shoot → 2013
Hasan claimed he launched the terror attack over anger about being deployed to Afghanistan and a desire to protect Islamic and Taliban leaders from US troops.
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he → claim → troops
He was sentenced to death following the 2009 shooting
In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Army, SWAT team members converge on a building where a lone gunman went on a shooting spree November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood
During his trial, Hasan told jurors he had 'switched sides' in what he called America's war with Islam.
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he → sentence → Islam
He admitted beginning the rampage and said he wanted to stop American soldiers from being deployed to kill fellow Muslims.
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he → admit → Muslims
Government lawyers also said Hasan did not want to go on an impending deployment to Afghanistan.
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Hasan → say → Afghanistan
The Department of Defense called the attack an act of workplace violence, not terrorism.
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Department → call → violence
Since 1608, at least 144 civilian prisoners have been executed by shooting in America, nearly all in Utah.
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prisoners → execute → Utah
Only four have occurred since 1977, when the use of capital punishment resumed after a ten-year pause.
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use → occur → pause
The first of those, Gary Gilmore, caused a media sensation in part because he waived his appeals and volunteered to be executed.
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he → cause → appeals
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell announced that Hasan will be just the second person since 2010 to be put to death by a firing squad Monday, with President Trump's approval
When asked for his last words, Gilmore replied, 'Let's do it.'
In March of last year, Brad Sigmon, a South Carolina man who killed his ex-girlfriend's parents with a baseball bat was executed by firing squad.
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who → announce → squad
The Justice Department announced earlier this year it would adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration moves to ramp up and expedite capital punishment cases.
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it → announce → cases
The Justice Department is also reauthorizing the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital that were used to carry out 13 executions during the first Trump administration - more than under any president in modern history.
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that → reauthorize → history
The Biden administration had removed pentobarbital from the federal protocol over concerns about the potential for unnecessary pain and suffering.
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administration → remove → pain
The moves were announced as part of a broader push to step up federal executions after a moratorium under the Biden administration.
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moves → announce → administration
Only three defendants remain on federal death row after Democratic President Joe Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison, though the Trump administration has so far authorized seeking death sentences against 44 defendants.
'
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administration → remain → defendants
The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers,' Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
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Blanche → fail → statement
Sgt. Fanuaee Vea embraces Pvt. Savannah Green while trying to reach friends and family outside Fort Hood on November 5, 2009 in Killeen, Texas
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended Hasan die by firing squad
'
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Hasan → embrace → squad
Under President Trump´s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims.'
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Department → enforce → victims
The federal government has not previously included firing squad as a method of execution in its protocols, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
uncertain
government → include → Center
Five states currently allow executions by firing squad: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah.
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states → allow → squad
The pentobarbital protocol was adopted by Bill Barr, attorney general during Trump´s first term, to replace a three-drug mix used in the 2000s, the last time federal executions were carried out before Trump's first term in office.
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executions → adopt → office
Attorney General Merrick Garland in the final days of the Biden administration withdrew the pentobarbital lethal injection policy after a government review of scientific and medical research found there remains 'significant uncertainty' about whether its use causes unnecessary pain and suffering.'
In 2020, under Barr's leadership, the Justice Department published a rule in the Federal Register to allow the federal government to conduct executions by lethal injection or use 'any other manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence was imposed.'
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sentence → withdraw → which
A number of states allow other methods of execution, including electrocution, inhaling nitrogen gas or death by firing squad.
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number → allow → squad
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