Army sets date for Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan to face firing squad
It will be the first U.S. military execution in more than 60 years.
Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, will be executed by firing squad on Dec. 3, according to a memo from the acting Army secretary.
The execution, the first carried out by the U.S. military in more than 60 years, is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, according to the memo issued Tuesday by acting Army Secretary Adam Telle.
The Pentagon announced Monday that Hasan would be executed by firing squad after President Donald Trump approved the decision Friday.
Under the military’s execution process for prisoners on death row, the Army secretary initiates the proceedings, which then require approval from the defense secretary and eventually the president.
Under Army policy, executions must happen within 150 days of the president approving it, but no sooner than 60 days.
The military has not executed a service member since 1961, when Pvt. John Bennett was put to death after being convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria.
On Nov. 5, 2009, Hasan, then an Army psychiatrist, opened fire at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at the Fort Hood military base, killing 12 soldiers and one civilian before he was shot, severely wounded and arrested.
Hasan was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder and sentenced to death in 2013. He was sent to a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
He is one of four death row inmates in the Army justice system.
The announcement of his execution comes after ABC News reported in June that the Army had been planning military executions, according to internal documents and officials familiar with the matter.
Army regulation dictates that at least two media outlets should be selected to witness the execution.
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