Tag Archives: nidal malik hasan

Congress Again Pushes to Declare Fort Hood Massacre Terrorism

Senator John Cornyn has introduced legislation entitled “Honoring the Fort Hood Heroes Act” (S.1500) intended to declare US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s 2009 massacre at Fort Hood an “act of terrorism.”  The text is blunt:

Congress makes the following declarations of policy:
The November 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas constituted an act of terrorism, not merely workplace violence. Nidal Hasan…was principally motivated to carry out the attack by an ideology of violent Islamist extremism.

The text goes on to require the Service Secretaries to award Read more

Fort Hood Shooter Forcibly Shaved

The Associated Press reports that US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan* was forcibly shaved upon his inprocessing at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he has joined the US military death row after being convicted for the Fort Hood massacre:

Lt. Col. S. Justin Platt, an Army spokesman, said in a statement Tuesday that Hasan had been shaved. Officials at Fort Leavenworth previously had said Hasan would be subject to Army regulations.

His decision to flaunt those regulations — claiming his Islamic faith suddenly required him to grow a beard — led to the first trial judge being dismissed.

*Though convicted, Hasan is technically still in the Army while his dismissal and sentence are being processed.

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US Army Major Hasan Guilty on All Charges

US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was found guilty of all charges by a unanimous board of officers.

Not that it should be a surprise.  His opening statement was “I am the shooter.”

Hasan is one of 12 attempted or successful attacks on the US military by those apparently motivated by their Islamic faith, four of whom were actually members of the US military:

And:  Read more

Judge Halts Fort Hood Massacre Trial

The trial of Fort Hood shooter US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan — the term “alleged” is apparently no longer necessary, since he stated in open court he did it — was halted by the military judge.

By Wednesday, the lawyers ordered to help him said they had had enough — they couldn’t watch him fulfill a death wish.

“It becomes clear his goal is to remove impediments or obstacles to the death penalty and is working toward a death penalty,” his lead standby attorney, Lt. Col. Kris Poppe, told the judge. That strategy, he argued, “is repugnant to defense counsel and contrary to our professional obligations.”

Poppe said he and the other standby lawyers want to take over the case, or if Hasan is allowed to continue on his own, they want their roles minimized so that Hasan couldn’t ask them for help with a strategy they oppose.

In short, the lawyers who are tasked to be in pseudo-standby to help him want to either take over — or they want out.

That Hasan may be actively seeking to be put to death is Read more

Atheist Jason Torpy Claims Not Praying is Atheism

Jason Torpy, former US Army Captain, atheist, and one-man band that is the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, recently commented on the study of religiosity and World War II veterans originally discussed here and announced back in May.  (The article at Religion News Service was written by Kimberly Winston, whose reporting on atheism was apparently the product of a generous donation from an atheist benefactor, Todd Stiefel.)

Torpy said [emphasis his]

The research also found that 28% of Pacific Infantry never prayed, even during heavy combat, so the study proves more than disproves the service of atheists in combat.

Torpy then contacted an (atheist) doctoral student, with Read more

Hasan: The Challenges of Finding a Clueless Jury

As jury selection continues in the Fort Hood massacre case, a potential juror seemed to express disbelief when the prosecutor asked him if he “had formed an opinion on whether Hasan is guilty.”

“He sits here in a wheelchair because of wounds he sustained on that particular day,” the colonel said. “In terms of 13 victims and who the shooter was, I have an opinion that Maj. Hasan was the individual who pulled the trigger.”

Given that the Judge keeps having to remind US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan not to refer to himself as “the shooter,” that might be a hard opinion to avoid.

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Hasan Trial to Take Place in Combat-like Bunker

The courthouse in which US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan is to be tried for the Fort Hood massacre looks more like a bunker in Afghanistan than an office building in Texas.  As noted by the Associated Press — which includes a rare photo of the combat zone-like revetments:

The military courthouse…has been transformed into a fortress, surrounded by hundreds of stacked freight car-sized shipping containers, and by tall dirt- and sand-filled barriers designed to protect it against the impact of a bomb blast. Armed soldiers stand guard around the building.

The substantial security measures may belie the attributed position that the government characterizes Hasan’s attack as “workplace violence,” not terrorism.

The article also notes the paralyzed Hasan is transported from the local jail to the courthouse by helicopter, at random times, “for his protection.”

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Hasan Jury Can Hear About Unborn Child

Update: Judge Col Osborn denied Hasan’s request for yet another delay, during which he was considering hiring an attorney after having asked to represent himself.

Military judge Col Tara Osborn said the jury can hear about the cries of a pregnant Soldier who was killed during the Fort Hood massacre:

A military judge says witness testimony about a dying pregnant soldier’s cries of “My baby! My baby!” will be allowed during the murder trial of the Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage.

That’s particularly interesting because the Army chose not to file a murder charge for the unborn child, even though the UCMJ permits it.  The child would have nearly been four years old by now.

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