Fort Hood Shooter Requests the All-Female Execution Team from Tennessee for His Execution
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted of the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting, has formally requested that the state of Tennessee assign the all-female team from Tennessee to carry out his scheduled execution, according to court filings released Monday.
In a handwritten motion submitted to the Tennessee Department of Correction, Hasan argued that the presence of exclusively female personnel would provide him with “a more dignified and less traumatic final experience.” The filing did not elaborate on the nature of the trauma he sought to avoid, nor did it cite any legal precedent for gender-based staffing of lethal injection procedures.
State officials confirmed receipt of the request but offered no immediate response. A spokesperson for the Department of Correction said the matter would be reviewed in accordance with existing protocols, which currently make no provision for the gender composition of execution teams.
Hasan’s attorneys declined to comment beyond noting that their client “has strong feelings about the circumstances of his death.” Prosecutors characterized the motion as “frivolous” and predicted it would be denied without a hearing.
Tennessee law requires that executions be conducted by trained personnel under strict medical and security guidelines. No state official has previously publicly addressed a request for an all-female execution squad from a federal death-row inmate transferred for the procedure.
Hasan remains scheduled for death by firing squad later this year. The court has not yet ruled on the motion.
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