Story summary
The U.S. Army has set December 3 as the date for the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army major convicted in connection with the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that killed 14 people, including an unborn baby, and wounded over three dozen others. Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle announced the decision on Tuesday, following President Donald Trump's approval after the recommendation by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The Pentagon plans to make Hasan’s execution public, potentially livestreaming it, emphasizing that it will occur at Fort Hood where the attack took place and at 1 p.m. EST, matching the timing of the original incident. This would be the first U.S. military execution since 1945 and marks a significant shift in the handling of death sentences for federal inmates under Trump’s administration.
Retired Staff Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford, who survived the shooting despite being critically injured, supports the decision to execute Hasan publicly, asserting that it underscores the consequences of such actions. The announcement has sparked debate regarding transparency and the use of lethal methods in carrying out capital punishment.
Written for “Firing Squad Execution Fort Hood Shooter” on 2026-10-11,
grounded in this article and the 77 other(s) covering the same event.
Having seen two executions at close quarters, I can advise you quite strongly not to watch the planned shooting in Texas of the mass killer Nidal Hasan by a live-streamed firing squad.
asserted
I → see → squad
The former US Army major killed 13 people and wounded 32 others, and has admitted it, so I am not really worried about whether it is right to execute him.
asserted
it → kill → him
It's the public element of it that I dislike.
asserted
I → dislike → that
I am pretty leathery and hard-boiled after half a century in the cruel trade of journalism, so you should listen to me.
asserted
you → listen → me
Watching an execution will change you.
asserted
Watching → watch → you
Of all your own sins, only more so, is the easiest way of explaining.
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way → explain → sins
I know of people more sensitive than I am who have been haunted by what they had witnessed many years afterwards, as they approached their own deaths.
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they → know → deaths
I worry about this.
asserted
I → worry → this
The first execution I saw, of a squalid killer called Larry Anderson, was by lethal injection in Texas.
asserted
I → see → Texas
He had abducted, robbed and many times stabbed a woman called Zelda Webster and then dumped her body on waste ground.
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He → abduct → ground
To my surprise I ended up wishing the execution had been more violent.
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execution → end → surprise
We associate these things with healing.
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We → associate → healing
It was wrong to disguise death as a medical procedure.
asserted
It → disguise → procedure
The second time, in Georgia in April 1995, was the death in the electric chair of a British-born man called Nicholas Lee Ingram.
asserted
time → bear → man
Ingram had broken into the remote home of J. C. and Mary Sawyer, terrified them with his gun, forced them into the woods, tied them to a tree and shot them both in the head.
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Ingram → break → head
Former US Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting
Mrs Sawyer survived and was able to give decisive evidence against him.
I have seen pictures of Mr Sawyer's body after the murder.
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I → kill → murder
I don't think we should ever write about executions without remembering the victims of the executed person.
asserted
we → think → person
Ingram, by this time a shaven-headed, shackled and helpless prisoner
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Ingram → head → time
I do not know if US Secretary for War Pete Hegseth will offer Nidal Hasan the choice of facing his firing squad or being blindfolded, but Ingram's face was covered with a shiny leather mask whether he liked it or not.
asserted
he → know → it
And then there was a tremendous thwack as a man-made bolt of lightning went through him, stiffening and jolting his body against the chair.
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bolt → be → chair
Nothing went wrong.
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Nothing → go → ?
He didn't catch fire, as some electric chair occupants have.
asserted
occupants → catch → fire
There was no visible sign that he suffered prolonged torture, only that single devastating blow.
asserted
he → be → torture
I still don't actually think either of these executions was wrong in principle.
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either → think → principle
I think heinous murder needs to be punished and deterred, and I think the arguments against capital punishment are either sentimental or evasive.
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arguments → think → punishment
Only total pacifists (which I am not) can accept them.
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I → accept → them
I am even glad that I saw them, because it was my job as a reporter.
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it → see → reporter
First, I had in a way willed them, by supporting capital punishment in general – though I should say here that I don't support it in today's Britain, where juries are far too weak and the chance of wrongful conviction is terrifyingly high.
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chance → will → conviction
Second, I agree with the American principle of keeping things open.
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I → agree → things
There should be media witnesses at such events (as there once were in England) to see that they are properly handled.
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they → see → England
Nobody made me go.
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me → make → ?
I am not complaining about the price I paid, just urging you not to pay it.
asserted
I → complain → it
Public executions ended in Britain in 1868, in France in 1939 and in the US in 1936.
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executions → end → 1936
America's last such event took place in Owensboro, Kentucky, after a dubious rape trial in an era of grave racial bigotry.
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event → take → bigotry
The executed man, Rainey Bethea (who was black), was hanged in front of a festive crowd of 20,000.
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who → execute → 20,000
Photographs exist.
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Photographs → exist → ?
Spectators ate hot dogs and drank fizzy drinks as Bethea died.
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Bethea → eat → drinks
The US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, revealed during an interview on a US aircraft carrier that the public will be able to watch the execution online
There were all-night 'hanging parties' and nearby hotels were full of spectators.
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hotels → reveal → spectators
The State of Kentucky, embarrassed, ended such spectacles thereafter.
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State → embarrass → spectacles
They had learned what Britain already knew, that public execution is a disturbing and depraved event, a nasty form of pagan human sacrifice, releasing emotions that ought not to be released.
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that → learn → emotions
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
