US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the military will livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan by firing squad. Hasan fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009.
This execution represents the first time the US Army has employed a firing squad since 1945. The Joe Biden administration established a moratorium on federal executions in 2021.
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, warned, "We always have the possibility that there's going to be a mistake made when human beings are involved in executions." Maher also noted that hanging carries a terrible association with racial violence and lynching in the United States.
Idaho became the first state to adopt a firing squad as its primary execution method in July 2025. Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and South Carolina also authorise the use of firing squads.
Last year, Mikahl Mahdi was executed by a three-person firing squad after confessing to the 2004 killing of an off-duty police officer. Alabama and Louisiana are the first states to have carried out executions using nitrogen gas, with Alabama executing seven people this method since January 2024.
Nine states have approved the electric chair as an execution method as of 2026, though South Carolina uses it as their default. In 1997, Pedro Medina's head caught fire while being put to death in an electric chair in Florida.
Christa Pike was discharged to prison 10 days after a failed lethal injection attempt.
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said: "We always have the possibility that there's going to be a mistake made when human beings are involved in executions."
Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center
