Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Nidal Malik Hasan’s execution by firing squad will be livestreamed as part of former President Donald Trump's initiative to resume federal executions. Scheduled for December 3, this marks the U.S. military’s first use of a firing squad since 1945. Hasan, convicted in 2013 for killing 13 and injuring 32 at Fort Hood in 2009, is the subject of renewed focus on capital punishment methods under Trump's administration.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.45, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 66936: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-08
Donald Trump’s administration has announced that the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad will be livestreamed.
asserted
execution → announce → squad
In an interview with right-wing activist Jack Posobiec on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution of Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 others at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, was a “no brainer.”
asserted
who → say → 2009
“He’s gonna get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be,” Hegseth said.
asserted
Hegseth → go → soldiers
“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.”
asserted
people → make → things
The Pentagon later clarified that the execution will be livestreamed.
asserted
execution → clarify → ?
Hasan is scheduled to be killed December 3, marking the U.S. military’s first execution by firing squad since 1945, part of a renewed push by the president to restart federal executions and turn to methods such as firing squads as well as nitrogen gas and electrocution to carry out sentences quicker.
asserted
Hasan → schedule → sentences
“Judgment day for Hasan has finally come,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X earlier this week following Trump’s approval of the killing.
asserted
Parnell → come → killing
Asked on Thursday whether Hasan made any final requests or reached out to the Trump administration, Hegseth said: “Don’t care.”
asserted
Hegseth → ask → administration
“We’ll see him on December 3,” he said.
asserted
he → see → December
Hasan, Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, was convicted by a military jury on 45 counts of murder and sentenced to death in 2013.
asserted
who → hold → 2013
Hasan, who was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan at the end of 2009, admitted responsibility for the shooting and said he believed was on the wrong side of a war against Islam.
asserted
he → schedule → Islam
He was left partially paralyzed after he was shot by police during his arrest.
asserted
he → leave → arrest
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a death sentence imposed by court-martial may not be carried out “until approved by the president.”
If the Pentagon carries out the killing, Hasan will be the first person killed by a military firing squad since January 31, 1945, when Army Private Eddie Slovik faced 12 riflemen from his own unit armed with M1 Garands.
uncertain
Slovik → impose → Garands
The last military execution took place April 13, 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged.
asserted
Bennett → take → place
During Trump’s first term, the federal government executed 13 people, the most under any president in more than 120 years, and a streak that resumed after a 17-year hiatus.
asserted
that → execute → hiatus
Before he left office, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 people awaiting executions on federal death row, leaving death sentences in place for only three men.
asserted
Biden → leave → men
Hours after he returned to the White House, Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to seek the death penalty in future cases “for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.”
asserted
Trump → return → use
Earlier this year, the Department of Justice also unveiled a plan to “strengthen the death penalty” by directing the Bureau of Prisons to use pentobarbital for lethal injections and consider other execution methods — including firing squads and even electrocution — to expedite death sentences of federal death row inmates.
asserted
methods → unveil → inmates
Two dozen states do not carry out capital punishment, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
uncertain
states → carry → Center
Deterrence is “one of the most commonly expressed reasons” for using the death penalty.
asserted
Deterrence → express → penalty
But despite Trump’s claims, evidence shows that “states that impose the death penalty are not safer than states that do not use the death penalty,” according to the center.
uncertain
that → show → center
At least five states allow firing squads as a method of execution.
asserted
states → allow → execution
Last year, South Carolina carried out three killings by firing squad, the first in more than a decade.
asserted
Carolina → carry → decade
In April 2025, a three-person firing squad in South Carolina shot Mikal Mahdi, who cried out as the bullets struck him, according to witnesses.
uncertain
bullets → shoot → witnesses
He groaned twice before taking one final breath.
asserted
He → groan → breath
An autopsy report later revealed two wounds on his chest, and none of the bullets directly hit his heart, which is where the gunmen are supposed to aim.
asserted
gunmen → reveal → heart
Mahdi, 42, endured “excruciating conscious pain and suffering” for up to one minute and suffered a prolonged death, according to his attorneys.
uncertain
Mahdi → endure → attorneys
This is a developing story
asserted
This → develop → ?
The Aporia
