Nidal Malik Hasan is scheduled to face an Army firing squad Dec. 3 in what would be the military’s first execution since 1961.
WASHINGTON, DC — The Pentagon said Thursday that the planned firing-squad execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, will be livestreamed to the public when it is carried out at the Texas military base Dec. 3.
The announcement adds an unprecedented public element to an already historic case. Hasan’s execution, if it proceeds as scheduled, would be the first carried out by the U.S. military in more than 65 years and the first military execution by firing squad since World War II. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the public would be able to watch the execution, and a Pentagon official later confirmed that it would be livestreamed. Officials have not yet released details about how the broadcast would work or where it would be available.
The Army announced this week that Acting Secretary of the Army Adam Telle had directed Hasan’s execution for 1 p.m. Central time Dec. 3 at Fort Hood. President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s death sentence Oct. 2 after the military appellate process upheld his conviction and punishment. Under military law, a president must approve a death sentence before a military execution can proceed.
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who held the rank of major, was convicted at a 2013 court-martial of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood. The shooting occurred at a Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where service members were preparing for deployments and other assignments. Hasan was wounded by responding officers and has used a wheelchair since the attack.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview that the execution would be made public because people should understand that serious crimes carry serious consequences. The Pentagon later clarified that making the execution public would involve a livestream. The department has said additional details will follow, leaving unresolved questions about access to the broadcast and how the military will reconcile the plan with existing execution procedures.
The Army said Hasan’s case completed the military appellate process before the president approved the sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in March 2025 to review his court-martial conviction. Army regulations require the secretary of the Army to set an execution date within a specified period after presidential approval, and Telle selected Dec. 3 and Fort Hood as the time and place.
Legal specialists have said the scheduled date does not necessarily guarantee that the execution will occur then. Hasan could seek review in the civilian federal court system through a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a step that could lead a court to delay the execution while additional claims are considered. No final ruling blocking the execution had been reported as of Thursday.
The military has not carried out an execution since April 13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder. The Army’s last execution by firing squad occurred in 1945. Hasan’s scheduled execution therefore would mark a major departure from decades in which military death sentences were imposed but not carried out.
The proposed livestream is also unusual because executions in the United States are normally witnessed by a limited group of officials, relatives, journalists and other approved observers rather than broadcast to a general audience. The Pentagon has not released the technical or procedural rules for the planned livestream, and questions remain about how the broadcast will fit within existing Army regulations governing who may witness a military execution.
For now, Hasan remains scheduled to be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood on Dec. 3. The Pentagon says details about the livestream will be announced later, while any additional court challenge could affect whether the execution proceeds on the date set by the Army.
Author note: Last updated October 8, 2026.