Updated

Updated · Fox News · Nov 5

Trump Approves Nidal Hasan Execution for Dec. 3, Setting First U.S. Military Execution Since 1961

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Nov 5

Trump Approves Nidal Hasan Execution for Dec. 3, Setting First U.S. Military Execution Since 1961

Q: What remaining legal loopholes might still delay the scheduled firing-squad execution of the Fort Hood shooter?

The main remaining legal opening is a federal habeas corpus challenge in civilian court, which could stop the Dec. 3 execution even though military appeals have ended. Hasan’s direct military review appears complete, including the Supreme Court’s 2025 refusal to hear his case, but he is still constitutionally entitled to seek review in U.S. district court under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. That is the clearest path because a federal judge could issue a stay while reviewing whether the military courts gave his claims “full and fair consideration,” the narrow standard set by Burns v. Wilson. Legal experts cited in recent coverage say that if Hasan files such a petition, the execution would likely be delayed, potentially for a long time. Other possible challenges are narrower and less certain. Hasan could try to contest the execution protocol itself, including the firing squad procedure or the Army’s handling of witness rules and any proposed livestream. Experts say he would likely be the person with standing to raise those objections. A livestream challenge, however, is on shakier legal ground because Army rules do not clearly address internet broadcasting, even though they restrict who may witness an execution, including barring minors. In short, the biggest “loophole” is not a loophole in the ordinary sense but an unfinished civilian-court route: federal habeas review. If Hasan uses it, that is the most realistic mechanism that could still postpone the scheduled military execution.

Q: Why did it take 17 years to schedule the first military firing-squad execution since World War II?

It took 17 years because a military death sentence cannot be carried out until an unusually long, multi-layered legal process is finished and the president personally approves it. Hasan was convicted and sentenced to death by court-martial in 2013, but that did not make him immediately eligible for execution. Military capital cases receive automatic appellate review through the Army Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and then can be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. In Hasan’s case, that review lasted years; the Supreme Court did not deny his final direct appeal until March 2025. Only after that process ended could the case move to the final executive stage. Under military law, the president must approve any death sentence for a military prisoner. President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s sentence on Oct. 2, 2026, after receiving recommendations through the Army and Defense Department chain. Army regulations then required the Army secretary to set an execution date 60 to 150 days later, producing the Dec. 3, 2026 date. The broader reason for the long delay is that the military death penalty is used extremely rarely and has extra safeguards. The U.S. military has not executed anyone since 1961, and presidential approval is mandatory. Hasan may also still file a habeas petition in civilian federal court, which could delay the execution again, as has happened in other military death-penalty cases.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 5

Trump approved Nidal Hasan’s death sentence on Oct. 2, and acting Army Secretary Adam Telle ordered the Fort Hood gunman executed by firing squad on Dec. 3.
Hasan was convicted in 2013 of killing 13 people and wounding 31 at Fort Hood in 2009; the execution would be the U.S. military’s first since 1961 and first by firing squad since 1945.
Victims’ families reacted unevenly: Marikay DeCrow called the order long-awaited justice and plans to witness it, while relatives of Michael Cahill and Amy Krueger said they did not need the execution for closure.
A Pentagon plan to livestream the execution drew sharp objections from families, who called it disrespectful and potentially useful to Hasan’s martyrdom aims; Trump later canceled the broadcast.
Seventeen years after the attack, relatives said renewed attention has reopened emotions even as they keep annual remembrance rituals and scholarships focused on the 13 victims rather than Hasan.