Todesstrafe: Trump genehmigt erste Militärhinrichtung seit über 60 Jahren
Erstmals seit 1961 könnte es in den USA eine Militärexekution geben: Trump genehmigt die Erschießung des Fort-Hood-Attentäters, eines Armeeangehörigen, der 2009 auf dem Stützpunkt 13 Menschen tötete.
U.S. President Donald Trump approved the execution of former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, who carried out a massacre at a military base in 2009, according to Pentagon sources. Should Hasan be executed, it would mark the first military execution in the United States since 1961, according to U.S. media. The former Army major killed 13 people and injured 32 others at Fort Hood in Texas.
Sebastian Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, wrote on X that Hasan had opened fire on unarmed American soldiers, saying "Allahu Akbar" as he did so. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had recommended the execution, which Trump approved. The location and timing of the execution have not yet been determined. Trump's decision came just days after a failed execution attempt in Tennessee of Christa Pike, who was convicted of murder.
The case reignited the debate around the death penalty. Military members can only be executed in the U.S. if the president confirms the death sentence, according to "The New York Times." The last military execution in the U.S. was in 1961, when an Army soldier was executed for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old during his deployment in Austria.
According to military guidelines, Hasan's execution must take place no more than 150 days after Trump's approval but no earlier than 60 days, reported ABC News. However, the execution could still be halted, wrote "The New York Times," citing a similar case from 2008. Should the sentence be carried out, it would be the first federal execution since January 2021, when Trump ordered the execution of 13 inmates in his final weeks in office.
The Fort Hood massacre occurred in November 2009, when Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire, killing 12 soldiers and a civilian and injuring dozens before being shot and taken into custody. Hasan claimed the attack was in the name of jihad, or holy war, which he said was an illegal war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He died without showing remorse and expressed a desire to die as a martyr during the attack. Hasan is one of four candidates for the death penalty in the military justice system.
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