2009 — Nov 5, Violence, Mass Shooting, Army Major Hasan, Fort Hood, TX — 13

— 13  Washington Post (Billy Kenber). “Nidal Hasan sentenced to death…” 8-28-2013.

— 13  Webster. Final Report… Webster Commission on…Investigation… Fort Hood, Texas…

 

Narrative Information

 

Webster Commission: “On December 17, 2008, United States Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan visited the website of radical Islamic cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi. He sent a message to Aulaqi. The Federal Bureau of Investigation acquired the message.  A second message followed on January 1, 2009.  Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in the San Diego Field Office reviewed the messages. Concerned by the message’s content and implications that the sender was a U.S. military officer, San Diego set a lead to International Terrorism Operations Section 1 at FBI Headquarters and the JTTF in the Washington, D.C., Field Office (WFO).

 

“Five months later, WFO conducted an assessment of Hasan, who worked as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. WFO queried certain FBI and Department of Defense (DoD) databases and reviewed the limited set of Army personnel records available to DoD personnel serving on JTTFs.  In the meantime, San Diego had acquired and reviewed fourteen additional messages and emails from Hasan to Aulaqi and two emails from Aulaqi to Hasan.  WFO did not assess Hasan to be involved in terrorist activities.  San Diego advised WFO that the assessment was inadequate. Neither Field Office took any further action. Hasan sent his last message to Aulaqi on June 16,2009. Aulaqi did not respond.

 

“Effective July 15, 2009, the Army assigned Hasan to the Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Texas. In October 2009, the Army notified Hasan that he would be deployed to Afghanistan in November 2009.

 

“On November 5, 2009, Hasan entered the Fort Hood deployment center. He carried two pistols. He jumped on a desk and shouted “Allahu Akbar!” – Arabic for “God is great!” Then he opened fire, killing twelve U.S. soldiers and one DoD employee, and injuring forty-two others.

 

“The FBI immediately conducted an internal review of how San Diego and WFO handled Hasan’s communications with Aulaqi.  As a result of the review, the FBI took specific steps to improve its ability to detect and deter threats like Hasan. Those steps focused primarily on FBI-DoD information-sharing, FBI Headquarters involvement in reviewing significant national security cases, information technology improvements, and training.

 

“FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, determined that an additional, independent investigation of the FBI’s actions was appropriate.”  (Webster, William. H., et al.  Final Report…Investigation… Events at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5, 2009.  July 2012 [?].)

 

Washington Post/Kenber: “Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Tex., the worst mass murder at a military installation in U.S. history…. If even a single panel member had objected, Hasan would instead have been sentenced to life in prison….

 

“No active-duty service member has been executed since 1961, and legal experts said it will probably be many years, if ever, before the sentence will be carried out. Hasan will be flown shortly to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he will join five other inmates on military death row, officials said….” (Washington Post (Billy Kenber). “Nidal Hasan sentenced to death for Fort Hood shooting rampage.” 8-28-2013.)

 

Sources

 

Washington Post (Billy Kenber). “Nidal Hasan sentenced to death for Fort Hood shooting rampage.” 8-28-2013. Accessed 9-11-2015: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nidal-hasan-sentenced-to-death-for-fort-hood-shooting-rampage/2013/08/28/aad28de2-0ffa-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html

 

Webster, William. H., et al.  Final Report of the William H. Webster Commission on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterterrorism Intelligence, and the Events at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5, 2009.  July 2012 [?]. Accessed 7-27-2012 at: http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/judge-webster-delivers-webster-commission-report-on-fort-hood  )