Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is threatening to execute any U.S. nationals that the terrorist group kidnaps if the U.S. government follows through with its scheduled execution of Nidal Hasan, the 2009 Fort Hood shooter.
Al Qaeda said in a statement released Monday that “the day America makes this decision,” referring to the execution of Hasan, “it will have made a decision to execute whoever among you falls captive to us.” The terrorist group voiced support for Hasan, who killed over a dozen people, and for the Omani suicide attacker who unsuccessfully planned to fly a plane into Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport this month.
Hasan killed 13 people and injured 32 others when he opened fire at a medical center for soldiers at Texas’s Fort Hood military base in 2009. Hasan, who worked as an Army psychiatrist at the base, was sentenced to death in August 2013 after a court-martial panel found him guilty on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.
President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s execution by firing squad last week, with the punishment set to take place at 2 p.m. Dec. 3 at Fort Hood.
Al Qaeda’s threat indicates it wants to see the U.S. halt Hasan’s execution, though it is already scheduled. Hasan is linked to al Qaeda through now-deceased recruiter Anwar al Awlaki, according to multiple reports.
The execution has made headlines in the U.S. after War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Hasan’s execution would be livestreamed for anyone to watch.
“The Secretary is correct. It will be livestreamed. Details will follow,” a War Department official told the Washington Examiner on Monday when reached for comment on al Qaeda’s statement.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE ARMY’S PLANS TO LIVESTREAM THE EXECUTION OF FORT HOOD SHOOTER
After Trump initially said he “absolutely” approved of the decision to livestream the execution, the president later told reporters that his administration has not made a final decision on the livestream.
“There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it,” Trump said Saturday. “Because, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
