Hasan To Face 13 Charges Of Premeditated Murder

FORT HOOD, Texas — The Army psychiatrist suspected in a deadly rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, has been charged in a military court with 13 counts of premeditated murder.

U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command spokesman Chris Grey told a news conference Thursday at the Texas base that additional charges may also be filed against Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

Hasan is suspected of killing 12 soldiers and one civilian in last Thursday's shooting spree at Fort Hood. He was shot and wounded by two police officers at the base, and remains in recovery at an Army hospital in San Antonio. His attorney says he was read the charges at the hospital.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Military officials say the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 and wounding 29 in last week's shooting rampage at his military post in Texas will face 13 charges of premeditated murder under the military's legal system. The decision makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

A formal announcement about the charges against Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is expected later Thursday. Two U.S. military officials described the charges to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case publicly.

The officials said it is not yet decided whether to charge Hasan with a 14th count of murder related to the death of the unborn child of a pregnant shooting victim.

Comments

[ClassicalLib]

06:27 PM on 11/12/2009

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”

-Voltaire

[Ramirez]

05:36 PM on 11/12/2009

From Claudia Rosett at Forbes:
***************

Obama's muddled message at Fort Hood.

“In the media, the question of the hour is how the military could have missed the warning signs of Hasan’s impending attack. Such details are important, and it would be a great idea to have better mechanisms (or any mechanisms at all?) within the military to catch the warning signs and act in time. But vigilance of that kind starts at the top. Right now the biggest warning sign of all is a president who looks at a pattern of jihadi communications, recruiting and attacks on America, and tells the public that the bloodshed at Fort Hood is ‘incomprehensible.’ Not for the first time, the system is blinking red.”

read more at:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/11/obama-terrorism-fort-hood-jihad-opinions-columnists-claudia-rosett.html

[wadenelson1]

05:14 PM on 11/12/2009

How many red flags did this guy raise?

He reportedly gave a POWERPOINT presentation on the problems that could happen if Muslims were sent to war zones where they might have to kill other Muslims, strongly recommending the US ARMY find ways to let them out or find ways they could serve in alternative venues.

Apparently not ONE SINGLE PERSON in the 50+ person audience was listening.

So he decided to DEMONSTRATE what could happen when you try and MAKE someone do something their beliefs absolutely will not allow them to tolerate.

There's gonna be an ugly investigation of all the ways he tried to get his message across, and all the people who ignored him or didn't listen, a single Major or lieutenant will get scapegoated, then our nation will try and forget about it and "move on."

I just wanna scream.

[Schnides]

04:55 PM on 11/12/2009

Ya know how prisons separate child molesters due to they would be in danger of other prisoners? Man, how would a Jihadist survive in a U.S. military prison???? I'd be VERY terrified if I was Hasan and would WANT the death penalty versus being in prison with these guys!!!!!

[Oleg1]

10:05 PM on 11/12/2009

Ehhhh..... prisons are filled with converted Muslims.

[mwm4755]

04:46 PM on 11/12/2009

The system is flawed because of LIBERALISM. Liberals won't allow kicking a Muslim out of the armed forces for fear of offending Muslims.

[Oleg1]

10:06 PM on 11/12/2009

Not so much liberalism as misplaced political correctness bordering on criminal negligence and treason.

[cripes]

04:43 PM on 11/12/2009

..and 200 counts of attempted murder

[constitutional 1]

04:35 PM on 11/12/2009

I hope its an absolutely flawless fair trial, once he is found guilty, he should go the front of the line in death row.

[TWW0108]

09:50 AM on 11/13/2009

There are eight others ahead of him. Unfortunately, no one on military death row has been executed in almost 50 years. He's going to end up dying in prison.

[Rubyfoo]

04:10 PM on 11/12/2009

Based on this and other reports, Hasan did everything but go around with a sign on his back saying, "I'm a jihadist." With all this surveillance the government is doing, it's rather amazing no one did anything about this guy. Maybe it says the system has flaws.

[AtomicMan]

04:14 PM on 11/12/2009

they knew, they just feared backlash for being considered 'discriminatory' against someone from a muslim background - pc bs

[Loveforlife]

10:41 PM on 11/12/2009

Them knowing. Is getting our military/us killed. Let's see how this plays out. Aye!

[hardrain77]

04:42 PM on 11/12/2009

Interesting web being weaved with Hasan...

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115230

I know it's WND, but even a crazy clock gets the time right twice a day. Why would a guy already with red flags all over him be allowed this close to the chain of power?

[Loveforlife]

12:51 AM on 11/13/2009

Moved. Interesting.

[weebils]

03:59 PM on 11/12/2009

They should really reevaluate those he counseled. This was a very dangerous man and I wonder could he have done damage to soldiers who went to him for counseling.

[zermatt]

03:58 PM on 11/12/2009

ABC reports that Ft. Hood terrorist Nidal Hassan had his own business cards made:
"United States Army Major Nidal Hasan proclaimed himself a "soldier of Allah" on private business cards he obtained over the Internet and kept in a box at his apartment near Fort Hood, Texas."

Can we rush to judgement now?

[benjamin006]

03:56 PM on 11/12/2009

I think that he should definitely get the Death Penalty. I know, if I had killed 13 soldiers or civilains the way he did; I wouldn't even be allowed to live.

To me, it's just ashame that our National Security has become our "secondary" priority for the past 10 years. What will it take for our National Security to be our Number 1 priority ?

[lukandluk]

04:07 PM on 11/12/2009

To the Post:
Not surprisingly, reaction to David Brooks’ Monday op-ed piece on America’s “Rush to Therapy” regarding Major Hasan was enormous, at least as reflected in the NY Times “Letters” section this morning.
Brooks was right about two things: due to brain chemistry, genetic structure, and pure dumb luck, we are born with certain propensities as to how to act and how to feel. And we do tell stories (narratives) about ourselves that help direct our actions into more – or less – productive and socially useful avenues.
But Brooks was way off the mark when he suggested that humans inevitably have the power to choose those avenues. The people in my family who killed themselves – leaving behind sorrowing family members, traumatized by the events, some of who would then go on to kill themselves or suffer lifelong depression – did not choose to write the distorted scenarios by which they lived – and died.
The whole point about trauma and harmful genetic loading is that it often subverts the process of conscious choice and, in the absence of beneficial therapy, leads us to commit crimes against ourselves, not to mention other people.
Christopher Lukas
The writer is author of Blue Genes: A Memoir of Loss and Survival,

[RonPaulIn2010]

04:16 PM on 11/12/2009

Genetic coding??? Take responsibility for your life. What you do is YOUR fault, not the fault of your gene pool.
You must be a liberal.

[CalculatedRiskTaker]

03:09 PM on 11/12/2009

I feel a lot of h8 in this blog. I wonder if Hasan had feeling for all the innocent people that have been killed in Iraq over the last 6 and 1/2 years.

An for you Christans, what would Jesus do and feel? America set the stage, put the gun in his hand. There is going to be time when someone pulls the trigger.

I think if your a right wing gun loving freedom bagger. This is just part of the cost of your Freedom.

Peace, and may we change our ways so that this may never happen again.

[AtomicMan]

03:17 PM on 11/12/2009

Part of our cost of freedom? what sort of a quack are you? just because you end your posting wiht peace, doesn't mean you agree. what would je sus do? certainly not consider this as a cost of freedom

[CalculatedRiskTaker]

03:29 PM on 11/12/2009

In this country you have the right to bear arms. And with that right 300 million people having that right, some are going to make bad dicisions. That is a "cost" of your Freedom.

[shp]

03:21 PM on 11/12/2009

"America set the stage, put the gun in his hand."

Disagree, he chose his own career path which calls for following the orders of the Commander in Chief. The freedom you so maliciously refer to is exactly what he had in this great country, and instead he acted like a cowardly barbarian. He alone is responsible for the blood on his hands. To think otherwise is keeping your head in the sand.

[CalculatedRiskTaker]

03:38 PM on 11/12/2009

When America went in to Iraq for WMD and thousands of innocent people died, who comitted the cowardly act at that time. The bigger problem here is that you want America it get a past for it cowardly actions.

For every action, there is a reaction. We are living the mistakes of our actions. There is no free pass

[FarOutFish]

03:05 PM on 11/12/2009

Political Correctness has cost 13 people their lives. Army spokesmen have admitted they failed to investigate Hasan because he was a Muslim and they feared they would be charged with profiling and racism if they looked into his activities.

[David Reinertson]

03:40 PM on 11/12/2009

Out here in California we investigate gun-toting anti-American radicals with foreign militant contacts. Must be all those famous Texas Army liberals who are afraid of "charges".

[Schnides]

04:08 PM on 11/12/2009

Wow, what a touchy situation this is. Screwed one way or another. I believe this war on terrorism does require more screening. And if a Muslim gets offended, then so be it. If I was in the same situation, I would totally understand the extra screening. If anyone gets offended, then grow some thicker skin and understand "why" it is happening. No one is picking on "Muslims", but it just so happens that some people who want to destroy us happen to claim they are Muslim. I don't see those terrorist people as a true "Muslim" just as I don't see killers who call them selves Christians as true "Christians". Either you kill people or you don't, but don't claim to follow a religion because know one with half a brain is buying it! Most level-headed people know that religion preaches peace and love. The extremists are sick in the head and are missing the message.

[bluesmann]

02:44 PM on 11/12/2009

At the outset we were told there were 2-3 gun-men...what rug is that story under?? They sold us the lone-gun=men story in 1963, and now will try to do the same thing...

[DustinTime]

02:42 PM on 11/12/2009

Why do I think they're covering up the full story, which has kept changing in peculiar ways if you followed it from the outset.

Hey, they flagrantly lied about Tillman, lied about Jessica What's-her-name... just totally fabricated and shilled tabloid-friendly tall tales for the domestic American audience. Lots of "unnamed sources." You know the game... craft a portrait, create an impression...

Could there have been a mini-mutiny going on, something that involved more participants, but they've decided to pin it all on the shady, seditious Muslim (who'd been promoted to major way back in, uh, May)?

Can't have people know just how badly the military is falling apart, how fed up and stressed out our soldiers are... how they are sick of being used for a what they can see firsthand is a con...

Makes me wonder anyway...