Trump approves the first military execution by firing squad since 1945

WashingtonUS President Donald Trump has approved the first military execution by firing squad since 1961. The convict is Nidal Hasan, a former military psychiatrist who killed 13 people and wounded 32 during a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009. "Finally, the day of judgment has arrived for Hasan," wrote Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell in a post on X. It now remains for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to confirm the location and the day the execution will take place.

If carried out, it would be the first military execution since soldier John A. Bennett was hanged in the early 60s and the first by firing squad since 1945, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Hasan, a Muslim American, carried out the shooting at the base while troops were preparing to be deployed to Afghanistan. The man shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is the greatest) before opening fire on the soldiers present. The shooter was charged with murder and sentenced to death in 2013. During his appearance before the judge, Hasan admitted his responsibility.

Trump and his administration have been openly favorable to the death penalty and, in fact, the US president has repeatedly expressed support for expanding its application. Last year, the Department of Justice (then already controlled by Todd Blanche, the tycoon's former lawyer) published a report in which it considered that the United States should bring back firing squads as methods of execution for the most serious federal crimes. The document also proposed the use of other practices, such as gas asphyxiation.

The Trump administration also lifted the moratorium that existed for many federal executions and has encouraged the application of the death penalty. In September of last year, the US president signed a memorandum ordering the reinstatement of capital punishment in Washington DC. The Republican signed this document in the context of the deployment of the National Guard in the city, which continues to patrol the streets more than a year later.

Although it may sound anachronistic –and they haven't been used for years–, firing squad executions are still legal in five states. In Texas, for example, the firing squad is not legal for civilian executions, but in the case of soldiers, military jurisdiction applies. Under army regulations, it is the president, who is also the "commander in chief," who has the power to authorize the method and the penalty. The punishment also comes in a context of a purge at the Pentagon and the spread of a culture of fear among dissenting voices with the White House.

The American prison system is decentralized, so beyond federal prisons there are state prisons. Currently, there are 27 states where capital punishment exists, and of these, at least five have already adopted firing squads as a method. The most recent is Idaho, which approved it in the state Congress in March 2025 and, in principle, it should come into effect starting July 1 of this year. However, just because a state has accepted an execution method as legal does not mean that it applies it in practice. This is what happens with the death penalty in states like California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, where, even if the prisoner is sentenced to capital punishment, the governor ends up putting the process on hold with a moratorium.