Donald Trump approves the execution by firing squad of Fort Hood terrorist

Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of terrorist Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.

On November 5, 2009, Hasan, an enlisted US Army major, attacked the Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas, after yelling "Allahu Akbar".

Hasan fired 214 rounds at soldiers within the Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where personnel received routine medical treatment before and after deployment, killing 12 US service members and a civilian, ranging in age from 21 to 62, and injuring more than 30 others in what was, at the time, the deadliest terrorist attack in the US since 9/11.

Now, according to Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell, he will be put to death by firing squad on the recommendation of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

In a social media statement, he said: "Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended — and President Donald J Trump has approved — death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.

"He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting 'Allahu Akbar' during the attack.

"The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution.

"Judgement day for Hasan has finally come."

The former Army psychiatrist was found guilty of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in 2013. He was then sentenced to death.

Despite the horrific nature of his crimes, he was not charged as a terrorist because the Uniform Code of Military Justice does not have a specific charge for "terrorism".

The FBI, under President Barack Obama, also determined the attack was not part of a wider terrorist plot, and characterised Hasan as a homegrown violent extremist.

If executed, he would become the first service member to be put to death since 1961.

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"Justice," responded Mr Hegseth after the announcement.

The Pentagon drew up plans to execute four military death row inmates in February in an operation dubbed "Resolute Justice".

The Army, working with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, arranged to transfer the four killers from the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to an execution facility in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Mr Hegseth made known his intention to carry out Hasan's death sentence in September last year.

"The victims and survivors deserve justice without delays," he said at the time.

In 2021, Hasan celebrated and praised the Taliban as the US withdrew from Afghanistan.

"All-Praises be to All-Mighty Allah!" he wrote in a letter addressed to the terrorist group. "Congratulations on your victory over those who hate for the Laws of All-Mighty God to be supreme on the land."

"I pray to Allah that He helps you implement Sharia Law fully, correctly, and fairly."

And in 2014, he wrote to then-head of Isis Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, asking to be made a citizen of the Islamic State.