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People are just finding out what actually happens during a firing squad execution as date announced for Nidal Hasan
Some online users have just learned what actually happens during a firing squad execution after the date was set for Nidal Hasan.
As previously reported, President Donald Trump approved the execution of the 56-year-old former Army major just days after the botched execution of Christa Pike.
Hasan was found guilty of terrorism and murder after carrying out a shooting at Fort Hood on December 5, 2009.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed the news in a statement which read: "Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended, and President Donald J. Trump has approved, Death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.
"The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgment day for Hasan has finally come," he added.
Hassan was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder after killing 12 US service members, a civilian, and injuring 32 others at the Texas Army base.
He was shot and paralyzed from the waist down in the gunfire and was sentenced to death in 2013.
His execution will take place at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday, December 3, 2026.
Hassan admitted to carrying out the shooting at his trial and told jurors that he had "switched sides" in what he described as America's war with Islam.
He said he wanted to prevent American soldiers from being deployed to kill fellow Muslims, while government lawyers argued that Hassan did not want to go on an impending deployment to Afghanistan.
The attack was initially treated by the Department of Defense as workplace violence rather than terrorism.
However, the Justice Department announced earlier this year that it would adopt firing squads as a permitted execution method as the Trump administration moves to expedite capital punishment cases.
"The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals, including terrorists, child murderers, and cop killers," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
People admit they misunderstood firing squads
News of Hasan's execution prompted some users to reveal that the process was very different from what they had imagined.
"So I just learned 'death by firing squad' isn’t like 10 [people] mag dumping you while you’re tied to a pole," one person said.
"I seriously thought they’d just fully unload on the guy but no it’s just singular bullets," the same person later said.
Another user believed that only one person would be given ammunition: "I mean technically I'm pretty sure it's just one guy with one bullet, everyone else is firing blanks.
"The idea is so that no one soldier knows for sure if they're the one who executed the prisoner. Or so I hear," they added.
How does the firing squad method work?
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the prisoner who is executed by firing squad is restrained to a chair using leather straps, with sandbags placed around the chair.
A black hood is pulled over the prisoner's head as a doctor locates the heart with a stethoscope. A circular white target is then placed over that area.
Five shooters stand in an enclosure 20 feet away with .30 caliber rifles loaded with single rounds. One of the shooters is given blank rounds.
They then aim through openings in a canvas barrier and fire at the target simultaneously.
Usually, the prisoner dies from blood loss caused by damage to the heart, major blood vessels, or lungs. If the heart is missed, death takes longer.
Firing squads have rarely been used for civilian executions in modern America.
Gary Gilmore was the first person executed in the US after capital punishment resumed in 1977, when he was put to death by firing squad in Utah. He waived his appeals and volunteered for execution, famously responding "Let's do it" when asked for his last words.
Utah later executed John Albert Taylor by firing squad in 1996 and Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010.
Brad Sigmon, a South Carolina man, was also executed by firing squad in March 2025.