CNN Sensation: Will an American servicemember be executed by firing squad for the first time in 80 years?

An unprecedented event, unseen in the history of US military justice for the past eighty years, may take place in the United States. Citing Pentagon sources, CNN reports that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has initiated the execution of Major Nidal Hasan — who carried out a bloody shooting at the Fort Hood military base — by a firing squad, and President Donald Trump has officially approved this firm decision.

Clarifying the matter, Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell stated: "Hegseth will determine the time and place for the execution of the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009. He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others. Finally, the day of reckoning has arrived for Hasan".

The Fort Hood Tragedy and 13 Years of Waiting for Punishment

Of Palestinian descent, US citizen, army major, and military psychiatrist Nidal Hasan committed one of the most horrific internal military attacks in US history in November 2009:

• Massacre of unarmed soldiers: Hasan suddenly opened fire at the base on unarmed fellow servicemen who were standing in line for a medical check-up prior to deployment to Afghanistan. Later, he called this action a fight against soldiers intending to participate in an "unlawful war";

• Paralysis and trial: Severely wounded in a shootout with police, Hasan was left paralyzed from the waist down and has been in a wheelchair ever since. In 2013, a military tribunal found him guilty of the premeditated murder of 13 people and attempted murder of 32 others, sentencing him to death.

According to US military law, any death sentence handed down to a service member enters into force or can be commuted only with the personal signature of the President of the country.

Historical Parallel: Slovik in 1945 and the Last Execution in 1961

If the sentence approved by Trump is carried out, it will be the first firing squad execution in the US military since 1945:

• The Eddie Slovik case (1945): The last service member to be executed by firing squad in the American army was Eddie Slovik, who was shot for desertion in France in January 1945. Out of 50,000 deserting servicemen during World War II, only Slovik was executed as a deterrent by order of General Eisenhower. Journalist Charles Glass writes that Slovik was actually not a bad soldier, but simply gave in to fear, while his family was kept in the dark and told that her husband had died at the front;

• The last hanging in 1961: In general, the last death sentence against US military personnel was carried out in 1961, when John Bennett was hanged for raping an 11-year-old girl.

Thus, after more than 60 years, the execution of a death sentence issued by a US military tribunal has returned to the agenda. Analysts note that this decision demonstrates not only the inevitability of punishment for crime, but also the sharp political stance of the Trump administration regarding military discipline and security.