FORT HOOD mass shooter Nidal Hasan could be strapped to a chair with a target pinned over his heart before a military firing squad takes aim in his historic execution.
The paralyzed gunman, who killed 13 people in the 2009 massacre, is due to die on December 3 in what could be the first ever livestreamed execution and the first US military execution in more than 65 years.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing for the execution to be made public, while President Donald Trump has said he alone will make the final decision.
The announcement has sparked fears it will create a sick spectacle that could inflame tensions with potential terrorists, with even JD Vance telling reporters, “If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not going to be watching it.”
Hasan’s looming death also comes amid fresh scrutiny over execution methods after Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike survived two rounds of lethal injection, leaving her critically ill in the hospital before she was eventually returned to prison.
Death penalty expert Professor Corinna Barrett Lain has warned “there will be blood splattering” when the triggers are pulled for Hasan, as she revealed the gruesome mechanics of the procedure and what could happen if it goes wrong.
She also described a chilling 15-second gray zone after the bullets strike, when Hasan’s heart may still be beating and it could be impossible to know whether he remains conscious.
Lain exclusively told The U.S. Sun the shooters will likely aim for 39-year-old Hasan’s heart.
She said, “Oftentimes, based on what we know and current experience, they’ll be wearing a dark shirt and they’ll have a target actually pinned to their heart.
“And the idea is that the shooters will aim for the heart for the quickest death possible.”
She added, “The thing about the firing squad is that whether you’re firing a blank or whether you’re firing a bullet, you are part of a line of people that as soon as you pull a trigger, there will be blood splattering and a person will die.”
The heart is targeted because catastrophic damage can cause blood pressure to collapse and cut blood flow to the brain.
But death may not be instantaneous, with Lain pointing to the case of John Deering, who faced a firing squad in Utah.
Deering volunteered to have his heart monitored, with readings showing it continued beating after he was shot.
Lain said, “I think the heart had stopped in maybe 13 or 15 seconds, something like that. So one would expect it to be very quick.
“What happens in those seconds, who’s to say? They might immediately fall unconscious, they might not.”
Deering was executed almost 90 years ago and firearms have advanced since then, although the Army has yet to reveal what weapons or ammunition will be used to shoot Hasan.
Lain, a former training sergeant in the US Army and author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection, said Hasan’s paralysis could also affect how he is positioned.
Hasan has used a wheelchair since he was shot during the Fort Hood attack, and Lain said, “They could place him in a chair. It’ll take a little more finagling than if he were walking in and sitting down and being strapped down.”
The Army is still developing the procedure it will use for Hasan, with current military execution rules providing for lethal injection rather than a firing squad.
Lain said, “I looked up the Army regulation on military executions and firing squad’s not there at all. It actually provides for lethal injection. So I think we’re completely off grid.”
One question is whether any of the shooters will be given blank cartridges, historically used so those carrying out a firing squad may not know who fired the fatal shots.
But Lain, who trained with the M16A1 rifle, said, “I knew the difference when I was shooting a blank and when I wasn’t.
“And most military people I have talked to have said the exact same thing.
“So I’m not entirely sure that it serves the purpose that it is designed to.”
Even with a target over the heart, firing squads do not always hit their intended mark.
Lain pointed to the April 2025 execution of Mikal Mahdi in South Carolina, which his lawyers claimed was botched after the shots failed to directly strike his heart.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/17134657/nidal-hasan-firing-squad-execution-livestream/
