Soldier Sentenced To Death For Fort Hood Shooting

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A military court on Wednesday sentenced Maj. Nidal Hasan to death for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, giving the Army psychiatrist a path to the martyrdom he appeared to crave in the attack on unarmed fellow soldiers.

The American-born Muslim, who has said he acted to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression, never denied being the gunman. In opening statements, he acknowledged to the jury that he pulled the trigger in a crowded waiting room where troops were getting final medical checkups before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The same jurors who convicted Hasan last week had just two options: either agree unanimously that Hasan should die or watch the 42-year-old get an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.

Hasan could become the first American soldier executed in more than half a century. But because the military justice system requires a lengthy appeals process, years or even decades could pass before he is put to death.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FORT_HOOD_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-28-14-58-02

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I am always sorry to hear of a death sentence, even when the crimes are

as heinous as this.

I think our society is diminished every time we model killing for our kids.

[MADem]

2. Darn. That is what the crazy basstid wants. nt

[kardonb]

22. bastid

he will be sorely disappointed when he won't find 72 virgins when ( if ) he gets to wherever he is going . Just believing something doesn't make it so , sorry .

[24601]

29. Wait until he finds out his virgins are all boars.

[elleng]

3. 'Hasan could become the first American soldier executed in more than half a century.'

[yesphan]

4. Sad, more death on top of death.

He'll probably be an old, old man before they actually execute him.

[geek tragedy]

5. Meh. Get him off the stage, his 15 minutes are over nt

[7962]

6. Well said, Geek. He'll sit in a cell forever anyway.

[Swede Atlanta]

7. Wrong......

He wants to be a martyr. Yes we will not have to pay to feed house, clothe and feed him if he is executed but he gets what he wants.

We should deny him that and make him suffer by sitting in a cell 23 hours a day year after year after year.

That is punishment. Killing him just makes his sentence like a walk in the park.

[geek tragedy]

10. I don't by the martrydom angle. Has never happened when these scumbags get

caught or killed.

McVeigh? Not a martryr, just composte.

Bin Laden? Not a martry, just fish food.

Nidal Hasan? No one will miss him, or care about him. He will be forgotten, though his crime won't be.

I generally oppose the state having the power to kill those who aren't a threat, but not all instances are outrageous.

As I said, meh.

[nomorenomore08]

17. +1

Just because I'm mostly anti-DP doesn't mean I give two shits what happens to mass murderers.

[Swede Atlanta]

19. Do you mean "buy" martyrdom?

Correct spelling and usage of the English language affect my assessment of credibility. That is an objective test and not one directed at any person based on a person's identity, etc.

Hassan has repeatedly stated he wants to be a martyr. So yes, he will be a martyr even if in his own perverted mind.

I do not want the state killing in my name for any reason. Usually I oppose the death penalty because of our inability to administer justice. We convict and sentence too many innocent men and women to prison and often death. In this case I do not doubt his guilt but I challenge the assumption that the death penalty, an act of vengeance and revenge, is just or a fitting penalty for his heinous crimes.

I believe he will suffer much more if he is kept alive for the next 30 or more years caged in a small cell with limited access to the outside and near isolation than if he escapes through death.

We will likely never agree on this point but if I were him I would prefer death as the way out rather than to serve my time.

[geek tragedy]

21. Whether or not he's a martyr in his own mind

is quite immaterial once he's dead.

I agree about picking nits in spelling and grammar when I'm reading resumes or peer-edited articles. For Internet chatter not so much.

[riqster]

8. Just as he wanted.

He wants to be a martyr. And the system let it happen.

[nobodyspecial]

9. Should have forced him to live

He wants to be executed. Punishment would have been the opposite.

Full disclosure: I'm always against the death penalty

[lastlib]

11. Wonder how many more "turrists" this is going to make??.....

[hughee99]

24. My guess, none.

Injustice and inequality are recruitment tools. Drone strikes are a recruitment tool. Corporations oppressing people is a recruitment tool. A US soldier admitting to killing a bunch of US soldiers and getting the death penalty for it isn't.

[independentpiney]

12. The soldier who massacred Afghani Muslim families got life

This is not going to look good in the Muslim world.

[PrestonLocke]

13. So let me get this straight...

Killing 16 civilians = life sentence
Killing 13 soldiers = death sentence

[Niceguy1]

15. each trial is unique

....

[Deuce]

23. Plea deal...

[PrestonLocke]

26. bingo

[christx30]

14. I don’t want to see him dead. He wants to die. It’s his dream.

No, sir. You don’t get to die for Allah. No quick exit for you. You don’t get your virgins. You’re going to sit there with no human contact, no books, no TV. Just four walls of your little cell for the next 40 years. You will receive enough nutrients to keep you alive and conscious. You will receive enough health care to keep you alive. But you will always feel hungry and sick. You will always feel cold. You will watch your body deteriorate and fail little by little, and you will know that there is not a thing you can do about it. At some point your body will be too sick to go on. At that point, you will slip away one night, alone in the dark of your cell. No one will care. You will be cremated and your ashes will be dumped in a place that never sees the sun. And no one will remember you.

[littlewolf]

16. makes too much sense can not have that ! eom

[nomorenomore08]

18. But I guess revenge is more important to some people...

[hrmjustin]

20. I am against the death penalty but he deserves what he gets.

[DinahMoeHum]

25. I say let the fucker rot. He can preach to the bedbugs

and cockroaches in a supermax for all I care.

For a self-righteous fanatic with dreams of heroic death and with no remorse or forgiveness of heart, life without parole is worse punishment than death.

[cstanleytech]

27. Wasnt it back in the early 60s that the military executed one of their own and

arent their like 5 or six been just sitting around for years (if not decades) with a sentence of death?
If so then I doubt he will ever really be executed and he will just die in prison while the nearly endless appeals continue.

[PaulKersey]

28. about time

[davidpdx]

30. There is always the possibility his sentence could be commuted

Didn't someone say that POTUS had to sign off on the execution?