Reported by:
Cherry Meigh Timbol
News Content Editor
Published October 13, 2026
Who Is Nidal Hasan?
He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others at the military installation’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center. A military jury convicted him in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, sentencing him to death.
Hasan’s case attracted additional scrutiny because investigators uncovered communications between him and Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born extremist cleric associated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011. Hasan was not convicted of a separate terrorism offense; his military convictions were for murder and attempted murder.
The U.S. Army has scheduled Hasan’s execution by firing squad for December 3, 2026, at Fort Hood, following approval of his death sentence by President Donald Trump. The proposed livestream of the execution has also prompted criticism from lawmakers, religious leaders and human-rights advocates.
Al-Qaida Threatens to Execute American Hostages
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based branch of the international terrorist network, issued a statement on October 12 threatening to kill American nationals who fall into its captivity if the United States carries out Hasan’s execution.
The group said the execution would make the United States responsible for the deaths of Americans held by the organization. The statement also expressed support for Hasan and an attacker involved in an unsuccessful attempt to target Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, according to the Washington Examiner.
An earlier message attributed to an Al-Qaida supporter in Yemen warned of possible attacks against American soldiers and the hijacking of U.S. aircraft in response to Hasan’s execution. The message was documented by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which monitors extremist communications.
The threats are conditional. As of October 13, the cited reports did not establish that AQAP had announced a specific, imminent operation or identified an American hostage facing execution.
