Pentagon Says Nidal Hasan’s December Execution Will Be Livestreamed
The Army has scheduled the Fort Hood attacker’s execution by firing squad for December 3. Pentagon officials say it will be livestreamed, with broadcast details still to follow.
The Pentagon says the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, will be livestreamed. The announcement adds a public broadcast to an execution already scheduled for Thursday, December 3, 2026, at the Texas military base.
Hasan is due to face a firing squad at 13:00 Central Standard Time, or 21:00 in Israel. Pentagon officials confirmed the livestream plan on October 8, according to the Associated Press. The platform and viewing arrangements have not been announced.
December 3 at Fort Hood
An Army statement published on October 7 said acting Army Secretary Adam Telle directed the execution on October 6. It identified Fort Hood as the location and specified the date, time and firing squad method.
The Army said President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s death sentence on October 2. Pete Hegseth, who recommended execution by firing squad, said in an interview with Real America’s Voice that soldiers would carry it out and the public would be able to watch.
Hegseth described the attack as Islamist violence committed from within the military’s own ranks. He said public viewing would demonstrate that such attacks carry serious consequences.
The death sentence and legal process
A military court sentenced Hasan to death on August 28, 2013, after convicting him of 13 premeditated murders and 32 attempted premeditated murders. His sentence also included dismissal from the Army and forfeiture of pay and allowances.
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces upheld the conviction and sentence in a decision dated March 4, 2024. The Supreme Court declined to review the case on March 31, 2025.
Presidential approval is required before a military death sentence can be carried out. Further proceedings in civilian federal court could still delay the execution, military law expert Eugene Fidell told the Associated Press.
The 2009 terrorist attack
On November 5, 2009, Hasan entered Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing center, where troops were undergoing medical checks connected with deployments. The court record states that he shouted Allahu Akbar before opening fire.
Twelve soldiers and civilian contractor Michael Cahill were killed. The appellate court recorded 31 people shot and wounded. It explained that the 32nd attempted murder conviction concerned a police officer who exchanged fire with Hasan but was not hit.
Hasan, an American born in Virginia to Palestinian immigrant parents, was then an Army major. He had communicated with al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki before the attack. A Senate investigation described the massacre as a terrorist attack and identified failures to respond to Hasan’s radicalization.
A survivor’s reaction
Survivor Alonzo Lunsford told KWTX on October 6 that he supported execution by firing squad and planned to attend. His comments addressed the execution order, before the Pentagon’s livestream clarification.
If carried out, the execution would be the first by the US military since April 13, 1961, when Army private John Bennett was hanged.
The base is currently named Fort Hood. It became Fort Cavazos in 2023, then regained the Fort Hood name in June 2025, this time honoring decorated World War I officer Col. Robert B. Hood.
