October 10, 2026
In an unprecedented step, a Pentagon official revealed, on Thursday, the military authorities’ intention to broadcast the execution of Nidal Hassan live over the Internet. Reuters quoted the official, who preferred to remain anonymous, as saying that the US Army will carry out the death sentence by firing squad on December 3, with details of the live broadcast to be announced at a later time. Thus, Hassan, a former army psychiatrist who is currently 56 years old and uses a wheelchair as a result of being partially paralyzed during his arrest, will become the first person to be executed by firing squad by the US military since 1945.
These developments come in line with previous statements by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who announced his intention to make the operation public, considering that implementing the ruling in the same location that witnessed the attack is “self-evident.” Hegseth emphasized in his statements: “We will make sure that people are able to watch the event, and that it is public,” with the aim of conveying a clear message that committing such acts entails “serious consequences.”
The roots of the case go back to November 2009, when Hassan opened fire inside a medical facility at the Fort Hood military base in central Texas, killing 13 people, just weeks before he was scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan. In August 2013, a military jury returned a death sentence after convicting him of 45 charges, including premeditated and attempted murder.
Under US military law, the implementation of a death sentence requires presidential ratification. The Pentagon announced last Monday that President Donald Trump had agreed to implement the sentence against Hassan, based on an official recommendation made by Minister Hegseth. According to data from the Death Penalty Information Center, executions carried out by US military death squads are extremely rare, and the last recorded case dates back to 1945.
