Donald Trump has approved the death sentence of former U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan by a firing squad. Here’s what that actually means.

Hasan was convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas, one of the deadliest attacks ever carried out on a U.S. military base. Thirteen people were killed, and 32 others were wounded in the attack.

Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith previously told ABC News that preparations for possible executions are part of the military’s routine contingency planning.

“Exercises regarding this operation have been conducted regularly for the past 20 years. These drills are a standard component of our continued planning and preparation if the president approves a death sentence,” Smith said.

Death by firing squad Nidal Hasan

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in September that he was seeking the death penalty for Hasan and that he is “100 percent committed to ensuring the death penatly is carried out” for him.

The Pentagon later confirmed that Hegseth recommended a firing squad and that President Trump personally approved the method.

In a statement, Sean Parnell, spokesperson for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, said:  “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended – and President Donald J. Trump has approved – death by US 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.”

U.S military prepares for first execution in over 60 years

The method is likely to follow a process similar to other previous executions carried out by firing squad.

One recent example is the execution of Brad Sigmon in South Carolina in March 2025. Sigmon was restrained in a chair as three members of the firing squad, who had volunteered to do it, took position and fired at a red target placed over his chest, according to AP.

Before the shooting began, witnesses saw Sigmon strapped into the chair with a basin positioned beneath it to collect blood. He was then covered with a hood while the firing squad remained hidden behind a curtain.

The ammunition was specially designed to fragment when it hit the body, causing as much damage as possible.

The curtain was opened shortly before the three officials fired their weapons at the same time. The execution chamber had an opening in the wall where the rifles were positioned. Each weapon was loaded with live rounds, while the triggers were operated from a position roughly 15 feet away.

How does it actually work?

An Associated Press reporter who witnessed the execution said Sigmon’s chest continued to rise and fall several times after the bullets struck him. He was pronounced dead three minutes after the first shot was fired.

Ronnie Lee Gardner was also put to death by a firing squad in Utah in June 2010. Former reporter Sandra Yi, with KSL5TV, witnessed the execution: “There was a strap across his forehead, so he couldn’t move his head,” she told Associated Press.

“But I could see him moving his eyes…and it looked almost like he could see us through the window, even though he couldn’t. When he was shot, some of us I think weren’t sure if he had passed away because we could see movement.

“He had his fist clenched and we can see his elbow move up and down and his thumb and forefingers moving, rubbing against each other.”

Gardner died roughly two minutes after five members of the firing squad shot him from a distance of 25 feet.

“He was fighting to stay alive “

Sheryl Worsley, reporting for KSL NewsRadio, was also a witness, and said it was ‘over pretty quickly’.

“It was cleaner than I expected and it was fast,” she said. “But he moved, he moved a little bit. And to some degree that bothers me and to some degree that mirrors the last few weeks of his life…because he was fighting to stay alive the last few weeks of his life, legally, and that seemed to carry on the last 60 to 120 seconds.”

The examples of Sigmon and Gardner offer a rare look at what a firing squad execution can actually involve – a method that remains uncommon in the United States and has not been used by the U.S. military in decades.

Hasan is scheduled to be executed on December 3, 2026, and is set to become the first service member to be executed by the armed forces since 1961. He is one of four men on the military’s death row.