Fort Hood shooter to be executed by firing squad - a first for US military since World War Two
Source: BBC World ↗ (cross-verified by 2 outlets — full list below)
Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, will be executed by firing squad after President Donald Trump approved Secretary of the Army Pete Hegseth’s recommendation, making it the first military execution by this method since the end of World War II. Hasan was convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder for the November 5, 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, where he killed 13 unarmed soldiers and wounded 32 others in a crowded medical building. A 13‑officer jury panel unanimously imposed the death sentence, and the Secretary of the Army will now set the time and place for the execution.
The case revives a largely dormant aspect of U.S. military law. While the death penalty remains legal for the military, it requires presidential approval, appellate review, and a final judgment on its constitutionality. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces had deemed the military death penalty unconstitutional in 1983, but it was reinstated by an executive order from President Ronald Reagan the following year. Hasan joins three other inmates on the military’s death row, and his execution follows a broader resurgence of capital punishment under Trump, who reinstated the federal death penalty in January 2025 after a moratorium imposed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The firing‑squad method is rare in modern America, having been used only once last year in South Carolina—the first such execution in the state and the first in the nation in 15 years. Four additional states—Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah—permit firing squads. Trump’s executive order frames capital punishment as a deterrent against the most heinous crimes, reflecting his administration’s tougher stance on lethal violence, while the Fort Hood case underscores the lingering tension between military justice practices and evolving public attitudes toward the death penalty.
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🌍 Effects for your country
The U.S.'s central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The U.S.'s economy is growing at 2.3% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the U.S.'s own central bank rate closely. With the U.S.'s unemployment at 4.4%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the U.S. depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UK's central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UK's economy is growing at 0.8% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UK's own central bank rate closely. With the UK's unemployment at 5.6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UK depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
France's central bank rate currently stands at 2%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. France's economy is growing at 0.9% with inflation at 1.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track France's own central bank rate closely. With France's unemployment at 7.9%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is already under strain. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in France depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
Romania's central bank rate currently stands at 6.5%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. Romania's economy is growing at 0.7% with inflation at 7.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track Romania's own central bank rate closely. With Romania's unemployment at 6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in Romania depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UAE's central bank rate currently stands at 3.65%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UAE's economy is growing at 3.1% with inflation at 2.5%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UAE's own central bank rate closely. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UAE depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.