Trump approved the military's 1st firing squad execution since WWII.
asserted
Trump → approve → WWII
President Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former U.S. Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
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who → approve → 2009
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the news on X Monday night, writing, "Judgement day for Hasan has finally come."
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day → announce → Hasan
Secretary of the Army Adam Telle said in an order released Tuesday that Hasan's execution will take place at Fort Hood on Dec. 3.
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execution → say → Dec.
But Hasan could delay those proceedings if he files a habeas corpus appeal in the federal courts, said Robin Maher, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
uncertain
Maher → delay → Center
"The fact that the president has approved Mr. Hasan's death sentence is another step closer to his execution," Maher said.
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Maher → approve → execution
"But that does not mean that his execution will be imminent."
For example, Ronald Gray, who committed multiple rapes and murders near Fort Bragg in the 1980s, is still on military death row despite having had his sentence approved by President George W. Bush in 2008.
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sentence → mean → 2008
It's not clear why the Pentagon is moving forward now, or why it specifically chose a firing squad as the execution method.
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it → move → method
But some death penalty experts that NPR interviewed suspect it could be connected to Tennessee's botched lethal injection of Christa Pike, which has dominated headlines and reignited debate over the past week.
uncertain
which → interview → week
"For years now, states have been pushing this rock of Sisyphus uphill …
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states → push → Sisyphus
They're spending millions of dollars, and yet they're having botched executions," said Corinna Lain, whose book, Secrets of the Killing State, was published last year.
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book → spend → State
"So this moment in time is one where states are really thinking about: what are we doing and what best serves the death penalty?
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what → think → penalty
The White House referred NPR's questions to the Pentagon, which declined to elaborate beyond Parnell's post.
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which → refer → post
In his announcement, Parnell said Trump had acted on the recommendation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said last September that he was "100 percent committed to ensuring the death penalty is carried out for Nidal Hasan.
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penalty → say → Hasan
"
"This savage terrorist deserves the harshest lawful punishment for his 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood," Hegseth told several media outlets, including The Hill, at the time.
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Hegseth → deserve → time
"The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays."
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victims → deserve → delays
Hasan was working as an Army psychiatrist in Nov. 2009, when he opened fire at the Fort Hood processing center where troops were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.
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troops → work → Afghanistan
He shouted "Allahu akbar" — "God is great" — before killing 13 people and injuring another 32.
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God → shout → 32
The attack ended when he was shot by civilian security officers at the scene, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
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he → end → down
Hasan acted as his own lawyer during his 2013 trial, at which he admitted that "the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter."
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I → act → which
The American-born Muslim said he had "switched sides" and turned against the U.S. because of its military actions in the Middle East.
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he → bear → East
The military jury found Hasan guilty on all counts.
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Hasan → find → counts
He was dismissed from the Army and sentenced to death, which triggered an automatic appeals process that ended only when the Supreme Court denied his final petition in the spring of 2025.
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Court → dismiss → 2025
Hasan is one of just four people currently on military death row — all of whom were convicted of murder — according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
uncertain
all → convict → Center
They are all incarcerated at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
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They → incarcerate → Leavenworth
The military's last firing squad execution was in 1945
The first recorded execution by shooting on what would become U.S. soil happened in Jamestown, Va., in 1608, when one of the colony's early council members, Capt. George Kendall, was put to death for mutiny.
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one → record → mutiny
Firing squads have been used relatively sparingly since, including during the Civil War.
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squads → use → War
"On the one hand, it is one of our earliest forms of execution," said Fordham Law School professor Deborah Denno, who has been studying execution methods for 36 years.
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who → say → years
"On the other hand, it's always been controversial because people associate it with extreme barbarity and … the Wild West."
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people → associate → barbarity
The U.S. military last executed someone by firing squad in 1945: Private Eddie Slovik was shot for desertion in France, the only U.S. soldier to be executed for that reason since the Civil War.
"They didn't even tell his wife that he had been executed; they just said that he had died in Europe," journalist Charles Glass, who wrote a book about World War II deserters, told NPR in 2013.
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who → execute → 2013
He said Slovik's case only became public knowledge about a decade later, when an investigative reporter published a book about it in the mid-'50s.
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reporter → say → mid-'50s
Most of the known U.S. military executions during World War II were done by hanging, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
uncertain
Most → know → Center
The last time the U.S. military carried out an execution of any sort was in 1961, when Private John Bennett was hanged for the 1955 rape and attempted murder of an Austrian girl.
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Bennett → carry → girl
"We basically have gone out of the business — until now — of executing people through the military justice system," said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School.
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who → go → School
The military officially suspended the death penalty after a 1983 court ruling, but reinstated it the following year and specifically designated lethal injection as the standard method.
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military → suspend → method
Fidell says that changed with new Army regulations in 2023.
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that → say → 2023
"The regulation was changed to make the choice or the method of execution a matter for the president's discretion," he said.
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he → change → discretion
"And obviously, the president has, in this case, approved the use of a firing squad."
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president → approve → squad
Under the current rules, once the president approves an execution, the secretary of the Army decides the time, location and method, to take place within 60 to 150 days.
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secretary → approve → days
Fidell said he was not surprised by Trump's approval, given his administration's embrace of the death penalty overall and the severity of Hasan's offenses.
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he → say → offenses
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
