Religious leaders keep pressing over Army firing-squad execution of Fort Hood gunman
Trump dropped the Pentagon's livestream plan after backlash from clergy, but the Dec. 3 execution and its morality remain contested
WASHINGTON — Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, is set to be shot by an Army firing squad on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. Central. It would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961 and the first by firing squad since World War II. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said the execution would be livestreamed. On Oct. 15 President Trump reversed that, while keeping the date and saying victims' families may attend in person. Religious voices had already objected. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Archdiocese said Catholics assigned to the firing squad should ask to be excused. Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, condemned any public execution. Newsweek reports that anti-death-penalty minister Jeff Hood has launched a campaign against firing squads. Hood links the plan to the botched Tennessee attempt to execute Christa Pike. Hasan's lawyers could still seek a delay in court.
Why it mattersThe case combines capital punishment, military law and an unusually direct moral challenge from churches, including inside the armed forces.
