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84-486: The book prompted endorsements from a number of conservative writers and requests by several conservative members of the United States Congress for investigations into CAIR's possible terrorist links and undue influence. It also prompted denouncements from CAIR, media outlets and other members of Congress. The manner in which its source documents were obtained led CAIR to sue one of the authors. The book

168-543: A National Review columnist criticized Obama for refusing to acknowledge Islamic terrorism as having a role in the shooting. On December 6, 2015, in his speech addressing terrorism, Obama included the Fort Hood shooting among Islamic inspired terrorist incidents. Retired Army colonel Terry Lee, who had worked with Hasan, said the psychiatrist expressed the hope that Obama would withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and argued with military colleagues who supported

252-486: A conspiracy theorist . Gaubatz is the son of Paul David Gaubatz, a former Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) Special Agent, and he grew up in England, Korea, California, and Utah. He later worked for several Fortune 500 companies, conducting fraud investigations, asset protection, and insurance sales. He began investigating CAIR in 2007, by posing as an intern and attending conferences affiliated with

336-475: A "jocular" tone for the first three minutes of his speech rather than immediately according the moment sufficient gravitas. Later, the President delivered the memorial eulogy for the victims. Reaction to his memorial speech was largely positive, with some deeming it one of his best. The speech was criticized by a reporter from The Wall Street Journal , who found the speech largely absent of emotion, while

420-464: A couple of rounds at me. I didn't hear him say a word, he just turned and fired." The two exchanged shots, Hasan emptying his pistol in the process. He stopped, turned, and reached into his pocket for a new magazine before being felled by five shots from Todd. Todd then ran over to Hasan, kicked the pistol out of his hand, and put handcuffs on him as he fell unconscious. LTC Tom Eberhart, Deputy Director of Human Resources, Fort Hood, arrived and entered

504-419: A former Marine, said that Hasan may have been legally justified in his request, but he could not comment without knowing what soldiers had said. Fellow psychiatrists complained to superiors that Hasan's actions violated doctor-patient confidentiality . Duane Reasoner, a convert to Islam whom Hasan was mentoring in the religion, said the psychiatrist did not want to be deployed. "'He said Muslims shouldn't be in

588-403: A group of five civilians hiding under a desk. He looked at them, swept the dot of his pistol's laser sight over one of the men's faces, and turned away without firing. While this was going on, an Army Specialist broke a window in the back of the building where MAJ Parrish worked. Two soldiers and Parrish exited the building through the broken window on the east side of the building and escaped to

672-446: A medical assistant from the building. He had two wounds in the abdomen and a wound to the scalp. He was unconscious and LTC Eberhart went back into the building to retrieve a folding table. Other soldiers assisted in getting SSG Lunsford onto the table and around the building to the triage area. An investigator later testified that 146 spent shell casings were recovered inside the building. Another 68 casings were collected outside, for

756-428: A military that fought against Muslims, he told some members of his family that he wanted to leave the military. From 2003 to 2009, Hasan was stationed at Walter Reed Medical Center for his internship and residency; he also had a two-year fellowship at USUHS completed in 2009. According to National Public Radio (NPR), officials at Walter Reed Medical Center repeatedly expressed concern about Hasan's behavior during

840-450: A part of the counter-jihad movement. In 2016, Gaubatz represented UTT at a congressional hearing on radical Islam at the invitation of Senator Ted Cruz . According to the SPLC "in his testimony, Gaubatz shared his story of infiltration and pushed other anti-Muslim conspiracy theories." Gaubatz reportedly "accused prominent Muslim-American charities of being front groups for Hamas and

924-422: A result, the judge ordered Gaubatz to remove certain documents from his website. Judge Kollar-Kotelly also said that CAIR's employees reported a dramatic increase in the number of threats by email, letter, or phone by since the release of Gaubatz's book. Gaubatz agreed in early November to return more than 12,000 pages of CAIR records while the judge considered the lawsuit, but in late November before he could do so

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1008-439: A senior Obama administration official, who declined to be named, referred to the shooting as "an act of terrorism", although other administration officials have not referred to the shootings as a terrorist event. Several people, including Senator Joe Lieberman and General Barry McCaffrey , have called the event a terrorist attack. The United States Department of Defense and federal law enforcement agencies had classified

1092-584: A senior law enforcement official said. Hasan expressed admiration for the teachings of Anwar al-Awlaki , the imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia between 2000 and 2002. Awlaki had been the subject of several FBI investigations, and had helped hijackers al-Hazmi and Hanjour settle, and provided spiritual guidance to them when they met him at the San Diego mosque, and after they drove to

1176-502: A somewhat rundown area. Two days before the shooting, Hasan gave away furniture from his home, saying he was going to be deployed. He also handed out copies of the Quran, along with his business cards, which gave a Maryland phone number and read "Behavioral Heatlh [ sic ] – Mental Health – Life Skills | Nidal Hasan, MD, MPH | SoA( SWT ) | Psychiatrist". The cards did not reflect his military rank. In May 2001, Hasan attended

1260-406: A total of 214 rounds fired by the attacker and responding police officers. A medic who treated Hasan said his pockets were full of pistol magazines . When the shooting ended, he was still carrying 177 rounds of unfired ammunition in his pockets, contained in both 20- and 30-round magazines. The incident, which lasted about 10 minutes, resulted in 13 killed—12 soldiers and one civilian; 11 died at

1344-471: Is "indistinguishable from that of al-Qaeda or the Islamic State ," and suggested that the refugee resettlement program is "a way for terrorists to infiltrate the U.S." He has also claimed that Muslims "have a religious duty to lie in furtherance of jihad," and that "there is no such thing as radical Islam, only Islam." He has also alluded to a conspiracy theory that radical Muslims were involved with

1428-607: Is based on a six-month undercover investigation of the Washington-based CAIR by Chris Gaubatz —son of co-author Paul David Gaubatz—who posed as a convert to Islam . The book uses documents Chris Gaubatz obtained as a CAIR intern to support the book's assertions that CAIR is a front for the Muslim Brotherhood , and that CAIR supports international jihad against the U.S. With a foreword by U.S. Congresswoman Sue Myrick (Republican, North Carolina ),

1512-451: Is clearly intended to create fear and distrust in our Capitol Hill community." The book and its endorsement from the four Congressmen were denounced on the House floor by Congressman Keith Ellison (Democrat, Minnesota ), the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, in a speech that included a statement by the House's Tri-Caucus (consisting of about 87 House members), officially entered into

1596-575: Is part of a ' jihadist network,' the suit does not allege libel or defamation ". Chris Gaubatz Chris Allen Gaubatz is an American national security consultant who is known for posing as an intern for the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) in order to gather information on the group's inner workings, which were published in the 2009 book Muslim Mafia by his father Paul David Gaubatz and Paul Sperry . The Southern Poverty Law Center and The Intercept have described Gaubatz as

1680-486: The Congressional Record and broadcast on C-SPAN on October 26, 2009. The four Republican Congressmen, joined by Senator Tom Coburn (Republican, Oklahoma ) and Congressman Patrick McHenry (Republican, North Carolina), then wrote IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman on November 16, 2009, asking that CAIR be investigated for excessive lobbying and failing to register as a lobbying organization. In

1764-480: The 2017 Las Vegas shooting . 2009 Fort Hood shooting On November 5, 2009, a mass shooting took place at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos ), near Killeen, Texas . Nidal Hasan , a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist , fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others. It was the deadliest mass shooting on an American military base and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since

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1848-547: The Bell County Sheriff's Office , and FBI agents from Austin and Waco were dispatched to the base. U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed on the incident and later made a statement about the shooting. On November 5, 2010, one year later, 52 individuals received awards for their actions in the shooting. The Soldier's Medal was awarded posthumously to Captain John Gaffaney, who died trying to charge

1932-622: The Fort Hood shooting ." Bahrain 's Gulf Daily News called the book "extremely biased". The TPMMuckraker also reported on the book and its reception, quoting Suhail Khan , the Fellow for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Institute for Global Engagement, as saying: "Some perfectly well-meaning members—Myrick, Shadegg, Broun, and Franks, who I've met and are good people—have been really duped by this Gaubatz character." In November 2009

2016-598: The Muslim Brotherhood , and said that 'the global Islamic movement' had infiltrated the FBI and Department of Homeland Security ." Gaubatz also accused the two Muslim Reps. Keith Ellison and André Carson of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, due to the two having attended an Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) event, which Gaubatz claimed to be a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood. When working for UTT, Gaubatz along with Guandolo traveled throughout

2100-577: The Quran , non-believers would be sent to hell, decapitated, set on fire, and have burning oil poured down their throats. A Muslim psychiatrist in the audience raised his hand, and challenged Hasan's claims. According to the Associated Press , Hasan's lecture also "justified suicide bombings". In the summer of 2009, after completion of his programs, he was transferred to Fort Hood. At Fort Hood, Hasan rented an apartment away from other officers, in

2184-667: The Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom , to victims of the shooting. This is a result of Congress expanding the eligibility requirement under a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015. On April 10, 2015, nearly 50 awards were handed out to dozens of survivors. In October 2018, the Program on Extremism at George Washington University published a case study about

2268-579: The September 11 attacks until it was surpassed by the San Bernardino attack in 2015. Hasan was shot and as a result paralyzed from the waist down . He was arraigned by a military court on July 20, 2011 and was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice . His court-martial began on August 7, 2013. Due to

2352-601: The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) provide each Congressman a summary of DOJ's evidence and findings that led DOJ to name CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism trial. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez ( Democrat , California ), "appalled" by the situation created by the book and the four Republican endorsements, said "I urge the rest of my colleagues to join me in denouncing this witch hunt , which

2436-463: The radicalization of Nidal Hasan . The report is based on previously unpublished as well as new sources including primary source documents, discussions with those close to Hasan, and interviews with Hasan himself. The paper concludes that his faith was fundamental to the development of his worldview and his pathway towards radicalization, and that his radicalization followed a linear pathway. Thirteen people - 12 soldiers and 1 civilian - were killed in

2520-699: The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism wrote that the case sits at the crossroads of crime, terrorism and mental distress. He compared the possible role of religion to the beliefs of Scott Roeder , a Christian who murdered Dr. George Tiller, who practiced abortion. Such offenders "often self-radicalize from a volatile mix of personal distress, psychological issues, and an ideology that can be sculpted to justify and explain their anti-social leanings". At his trial in June 2013, Hasan declared his motive as wanting to defend

2604-747: The FN Five-seven pistol. As Gilbert owned one of the pistols, he spent an hour describing its operation to Hasan. Hasan left the store, saying he needed to research the weapon. He returned to purchase the gun the next day, and visited the store once a week to buy extra magazines, along with over 3,000 rounds of 5.7×28mm SS192 and SS197SR ammunition total. In the weeks prior to the attack, Hasan visited an outdoor shooting range in Florence , where he allegedly became adept at hitting silhouette targets at distances of up to 100 yards. At approximately 1:34 p.m. local time, November 5, 2009, Hasan entered

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2688-530: The Falls Church mosque was in the same period as that of Nawaf al-Hazmi and Hani Hanjour , two of the hijackers in the September 11 attacks , who went there from April 2001 to later in the summer. A law enforcement official said that the FBI will probably look into whether Hasan associated with the hijackers. A review of Hasan's computer and his e-mail accounts revealed he had visited radical Islamist websites,

2772-487: The Medical Building to help. He had to step over bodies to enter the building's north entrance. He assisted another soldier in performing CPR on one of the wounded soldiers at the building's waiting area. Folding chairs were scattered all around. He noticed a soldier outside the south doors of the building and went to help, removing the belt from the door. The downed soldier was Staff Sergeant Alonzo Lunsford,

2856-627: The Purple Heart. In July 2014, a memorial for those killed during the attack began to be built in Killeen. The dedication ceremony for the memorial was held in March 2016. On February 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a press release, in which Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh announced that he was approving the awarding of the Purple Heart and its civilian counterpart,

2940-591: The Soldier Readiness Processing Center, where personnel receive routine medical treatment immediately prior to and on return from deployment. He was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan with his unit and had been to the Center several times before. He was armed with the FN Five-seven pistol, which he had fitted with two Lasermax laser sights : one red, and one green. A Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver (an older model)

3024-686: The Soldier Readiness Processing Site, arrived at this time. Hasan had gone around the building and was out of sight, but still shooting. Toro and another site worker rushed to assist Lieutenant Colonel Juanita Warman, who was down on the ground north of the medical building. They both took her by the arms and tried to carry her to safety when Hasan returned and aimed his red laser across Toro's chest, but did not fire. Toro took cover behind an electrical box and saw civilian police Sergeant Mark Todd arrive and shout commands at Hasan to surrender. Todd said: "Then he turned and fired

3108-534: The U.S. Government, which previously had no role in the lawsuit, filed a sealed motion in the case and agents from the FBI served the Gaubatzes' attorneys with a grand jury subpoena demanding the records. Other media sources carrying commentary on the book included Politico , which reported on CAIR's lawsuit against the Gaubatzs, noting: "In an interesting twist, despite the book's harsh claims that CAIR

3192-584: The U.S. House at the time of its publication. CAIR later filed a federal lawsuit against Gaubatz and his father for stealing 12,000 documents from the organization. Several of CAIR's claims were later dismissed in court. Gaubatz later served as Vice President of former FBI agent John Guandolo 's organization Understanding the Threat (UTT), designated an anti-Muslim "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and considered

3276-645: The U.S. military, because obviously Muslims shouldn't kill Muslims. He told me not to join the Army.'" Senator Joe Lieberman called for a probe by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs , which he chairs. Lieberman said "it's premature to reach conclusions about what motivated Hasan ... I think it's very important to let the Army and the FBI go forward with this investigation before we reach any conclusions." Two weeks later, when opening his committee's hearings, Lieberman labeled

3360-628: The attack did not fit the profile of terrorism, and was more similar to the Virginia Tech massacre , committed by a student believed to be severely mentally ill. Michael Scheuer , the retired former head of the Bin Laden Issue Station , and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey have called the event a terrorist attack, as has the terrorism expert Walid Phares . Retired General Barry McCaffrey said on Anderson Cooper 360° that "it's starting to appear as if this

3444-405: The attack. Over thirty people were wounded; some from gunshots, others from falls or other injuries incurred during the incident, and many suffered psychological trauma or shock. The Army, press, and investigative bodies have reported several numbers for the total number of injured, without indicating what sorts of injuries they were counting, nor how: 29; 30; 31; 32; 38; and 42. Hasan,

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3528-477: The attack. The U.S. government declined requests from survivors and family members of the slain to categorize the Fort Hood shooting as an act of terrorism, or motivated by militant Islamic religious convictions. In November 2011, a group of survivors and family members filed a lawsuit against the government for negligence in preventing the attack, and to force the government to classify the shootings as terrorism. The Pentagon argued that charging Hasan with terrorism

3612-609: The book attracted endorsements from three other Congressmen— Trent Franks (Republican, Arizona ), John Shadegg (Republican, Arizona), and Paul Broun (Republican, Georgia )—as well as media attention beginning with its release in mid-October 2009. The four Congressmen then wrote Attorney General Eric Holder on October 21, 2009, saying that in light of the book's claims of CAIR attempting to influence national security policy within Congress, they were very concerned about CAIR's relationships with terrorist groups, and requesting that

3696-672: The book received further attention when federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered several of the book's source documents removed from Gaubatz's website, after CAIR brought a federal civil lawsuit against Gaubatz and his son (who had obtained the documents as a CAIR intern) for stealing the documents. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly concluded that the Gaubatzs "unlawfully obtained access to, and have already caused repeated public disclosure of, material containing CAIR's proprietary, confidential and privileged information ," which CAIR says included names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of CAIR employees and donors. As

3780-423: The building. An unidentified soldier secured the south double doors with his ACU belt and rushed to help the wounded. According to the responding nurses, there was so much blood covering the floor inside the building that they were unable to maintain balance, and had difficulty reaching the wounded to help them. In the area outside the building, Hasan continued to shoot at fleeing soldiers. Herman Toro, Director of

3864-501: The commandments mandated in Islam. In another document, he wrote "I invite the world to read the book of All-Mighty Allah and decide for themselves if it is the truth from their Lord. My desire is to help people attain heaven by the mercy of their Lord." In another document, Hasan wrote that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between American democracy and Islamic governance. Specifically: ... in an American democracy, 'we

3948-666: The country providing training seminars to law enforcement and civilians on the "jihadi threat". Gaubatz left UTT in 2018. After his resignation from UTT, Gaubatz became president of the RAIR Foundation, or Rise Align Ignite Reclaim, which was founded by prolific anti-Muslim Twitter user Amy Mek , who was exposed as Amy Mekelburg by HuffPost the same year. Gaubatz has also worked with ACT for America . In local Republican Party and Tea Party movement events since his resignation from UTT in 2018 Gaubatz has claimed that CAIR consists of "suit-wearing jihadis" whose ideology

4032-482: The court martial. The U.S. President's initial response to the attack came during a scheduled speech at the Tribal Nations Conference for America's 564 federally recognized Native American tribes. Obama was criticized by various news outlets for being "insensitive" to viewer's perceived emotional distress, speaking too colloquially by giving a "shout-out" to a member of the audience and assuming

4116-545: The deaths of his parents in 1998 and 2001. His cousin did not recall him ever expressing radical or anti-American views. Another cousin, Nader Hasan, a lawyer in Virginia, said that Nidal Hasan's opinion turned against the United States after he heard stories from his patients, who had returned from fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Because of what Hasan said was discrimination and his deepening anguish about serving in

4200-479: The desk and bowed his head for several seconds, before he suddenly stood up, shouted " Allahu Akbar  !" and opened fire. Witnesses said Hasan initially "sprayed bullets at soldiers in a fanlike motion" before taking aim at individual soldiers. Eyewitness SGT Michael Davis said: "The rate of fire was pretty much constant shooting. When I initially heard it, it sounded like an M16 ." Army Reserve Captain John Gaffaney tried to stop Hasan by charging him, but

4284-430: The east coast. Considered moderate then, Al-Awlaki appeared to become radicalized after 2006 and was under surveillance. After Hasan wrote nearly 20 e-mails to him between December 2008 and June 2009, Hasan was investigated by the FBI. The fact that Hasan had "certain communications" with the subject of a Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation was revealed in an FBI press release made on November 9, 2009, and reporting by

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4368-576: The entire six years he was there; Hasan's supervisors gave him poor evaluations and warned him that he was doing substandard work. In early 2008 (and on later occasions), several key officials met to discuss what to do about Hasan. Attendees of these meetings reportedly included the Walter Reed chief of psychiatry, the chairman of the USUHS Psychiatry Department, two assistant chairs of the USUHS Psychiatry Department (one of whom

4452-623: The first officials to comment on Hasan's background, told reporters that Hasan was upset about his pending deployment to Afghanistan on November 28. Noel Hamad, Hasan's aunt, said that the family was not aware he was being sent to Afghanistan. The Dallas Morning News reported on November 17 that ABC News, citing anonymous sources, reported that investigators suspect that the shootings were triggered by superiors' refusal to process Hasan's requests that some of his patients be prosecuted for war crimes based on statements they made during psychiatric sessions with him. Dallas attorney Patrick McLain,

4536-477: The first show on US TV to star Muslims. Or maybe I like the term 'Muslim Mafia' so much because my father is Muslim and my mom is Sicilian . With this pedigree, I'm a shoe-in [ sic ] for a top position in the 'Muslim Mafia.'" A highly critical opinion piece in Dubai 's Khaleej Times opined that the book's "attack" on Muslim congressional interns and CAIR was "probably more politically significant" than

4620-682: The funeral of his mother, held at the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia , which has 3,000 members. He may also have occasionally prayed there but, for a period of ten years, he prayed several times a week at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland , closer to where he lived and worked. He was regularly seen at the Muslim Community Center by the imam and other members. His attendance at

4704-815: The gunman, was taken to Scott and White Memorial Hospital , a trauma center in Temple, Texas , and later moved to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, where he was held under heavy guard. Hasan was hit by at least four shots. As a result of bullet wounds to his spine, he is now paraplegic . He was later held at the Bell County jail in Belton, Texas . Ten of the injured were also treated at Scott and White. Seven wounded victims were taken to Metroplex Adventist Hospital in Killeen. Eight others received hospital treatment for shock. On November 20, 2009, it

4788-479: The investigation was completed, Senator Joe Lieberman called the shooting "the most destructive terrorist attack on America since September 11, 2001." Michael Scheuer, the retired former head of the Bin Laden Issue Station, and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey also described it as a terrorist attack. A group of soldiers and families have sought to have the defense secretary designate

4872-516: The lives of the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan. Army prosecutors said that he sought to align himself with Islamic extremists. In August 2013, Fox News released documents from Hasan in which he explained his motives. Most of the documents included the acronym "SoA", which is considered shorthand for "Soldier of Allah". In one document, Hasan wrote that he was required to renounce any oaths that required him to defend any man-made constitution over

4956-461: The media immediately revealed that the subject was Awlaki and the communications were e-mails. In one, Hasan wrote: "I can't wait to join you" in the afterlife . Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies , suggested that Hasan was "either offering himself up or [had] already crossed that line in his own mind". Army employees were informed of the contacts at

5040-715: The media revealed that a Joint Terrorism Task Force had been aware of a series of e-mails between Hasan and the Yemen-based Imam Anwar al-Awlaki , who had been monitored by the NSA as a security threat, and that Hasan's colleagues had been aware of his increasing Islamic radicalization for several years. The failure to prevent the shooting led the Defense Department and the FBI to commission investigations, and Congress to hold hearings. The U.S. government declined requests from survivors and family members of

5124-527: The military justice system and that such action could harm the military prosecutors' ability to sustain a guilty verdict against Hasan. According to pretrial testimony, Hasan entered the Guns Galore store in Killeen on July 31, 2009, and purchased the FN Five-seven semi-automatic pistol that he would use in the attack at Fort Hood. According to Army Specialist William Gilbert, a regular customer at

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5208-405: The nature of the charges (more than one premeditated, or first-degree, murder case, in a single crime), Hasan faced either the death penalty or life in prison without parole upon conviction. Hasan was found guilty on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder on August 23, 2013, and was sentenced to death on August 28, 2013. Days after the shooting, reports in

5292-491: The organization. For his undercover operation at CAIR, later to be published in the book Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America , Gaubatz called himself David Marshall, an alleged Muslim student at Ferrum College . Gaubatz worked undercover for six months in the organization as part of the operation. The book was championed by at least four Republican members of

5376-421: The parking lot, though one soldier severely cut his hand on broken glass. All of this happened as Hasan was still roaming the building and shooting. Base civilian police Sergeant Kimberly Munley, who had rushed to the scene in her patrol car, encountered Hasan in the area outside the Soldier Readiness Processing Center. Hasan fired at Munley, who exchanged shots with him using her 9mm M9 pistol . Munley's hand

5460-487: The people' govern according to what 'we the people' think is right or wrong, even if it specifically goes against what All-Mighty God commands. He further explained that separation of Church and State is an unacceptable attempt to get along with unbelievers, because "Islam was brought to prevail over other religions" and not to be equal with or subservient to them. Many have characterized the attack as terrorism. Two weeks after recommending no conclusions be drawn until after

5544-553: The scene, and two died later in a hospital; and 30 people wounded. Initially, officials thought three soldiers were involved in the shooting; two other soldiers were detained, but subsequently released. The Fort Hood website posted a notice indicating that the shooting was not a drill. Immediately after the shooting, the base and surrounding areas were locked down by military police and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) until around 7 pm local time . In addition, Texas Rangers , Texas DPS troopers , deputies from

5628-498: The shooter with a chair. In May 2012, Senator Joe Lieberman and Representative Peter T. King proposed legislation that would make the victims of the shooting eligible for the Purple Heart . In the 113th Congress , Representative John Carter introduced legislation to change the shooting designation from "workplace violence" to "combat related" which would make the victims of the shooting eligible to receive full benefits and

5712-549: The shooter; fifty other medals were presented to other responders, including seven others who were awarded the Soldier's Medal. The Secretary of the Army Award for Valor was awarded to police officers Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd, for the roles they played in stopping the shooter. On May 23, 2011, the Army Award for Valor was posthumously awarded to the civilian physician assistant Michael Cahill, who died trying to charge

5796-681: The shooting "the most destructive terrorist attack on America since September 11, 2001 ". Michael Welner , M.D., a leading forensic psychiatrist with experience examining mass shooters, said that the shooting had elements common to both ideological and workplace mass shootings . Welner, who believed Hasan wanted to create a "spectacle", said that a trauma care worker, even under mental distress, would not normally be expected to be homicidal toward his patients unless his ideology trumped his Hippocratic Oath –Welner thought Hasan expressed this in shouting, " Allahu Akhbar, " as he shot unarmed men. An analyst of terror investigations, Carl Tobias, opined that

5880-412: The shooting a "terrorist attack;" this would provide them with benefits equal to injuries in combat. The FBI found no evidence to indicate Hasan had any co-conspirators or was part of a broader terrorist plot, classifying him as a homegrown violent extremist. Conversely, the Defense Department currently classifies Hasan's attack as an act of workplace violence and would not make further statements until

5964-505: The shootings as an act of workplace violence . This was changed by the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act which broadened the criteria for awarding the Purple Heart to include "an attack by a foreign terrorist organization….if the attack was inspired or motivated by the foreign terrorist organization." This allowed the Army to award the Purple Heart, and its civilian equivalent, The Defense of Freedom Medal, to victims of

6048-413: The slain to categorize the Fort Hood shooting as an act of terrorism, or motivated by militant Islamic religious convictions. In November 2011, a group of survivors and family members filed a lawsuit against the government for negligence in preventing the attack, and to force the government to classify the shooting as terrorism. The Pentagon argued that charging Hasan with terrorism was not possible within

6132-411: The store, Hasan entered the store and asked for "the most technologically advanced weapon on the market and the one with the highest standard magazine capacity". Hasan was allegedly asked how he intended to use the weapon, but simply repeated that he wanted the most advanced handgun with the largest magazine capacity. The three people with Hasan—Gilbert, the store manager, and an employee—all recommended

6216-469: The time, but they believed that the e-mails were consistent with Hasan's professional mental health research about Muslims in the armed services, as part of his master's work in Disaster and Preventive Psychiatry. A DC-based joint terrorism task force operating under the FBI was notified, and the information reviewed by one of its Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) employees, who concluded there

6300-569: The wake of the Fort Hood shooting , the book received an editorial endorsement from former Congressman Tom Tancredo (Republican, Colorado), writing in the November 6 edition of The Denver Post . Arab-American comedian Dean Obeidallah poked fun at the book, writing on October 14, 2009, in The Huffington Post that "a 'Muslim Mafia' does sound cool on some level. Americans love mafia shows, so this 'Muslim Mafia' could inspire

6384-665: The wars. A spokesman for the Defense Department called the shooting an "isolated and tragic case", and Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged that his department would do "everything in its power to help the Fort Hood community get through these difficult times." The chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee , Carl Levin , and numerous politicians, expressed condolences to the victims and their families. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stated "we object to—and do not believe—that anti-Muslim sentiment should emanate from this ... This

6468-693: Was a domestic terrorist attack on fellow soldiers by a major in the Army who we educated for six years while he was giving off these vibes of disloyalty to his own force". Some of Hasan's former colleagues have said he performed substandard work and occasionally unnerved them by expressing fervent Islamic views and deep opposition to the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Others were more concerned about his apparent mental instability and paranoid behaviors. Throughout his years at Walter Reed, heads of departments had regularly discussed his mental state, as they were "deeply concerned" about his behavior. Brian Levin of

6552-479: Was an individual who does not, obviously, represent the Muslim faith." Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. said "I'm concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers ... Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse." In January 2010,

6636-477: Was announced that eight of the wounded service members would deploy overseas. The 13 killed were: The following people suffered gunshot wounds and survived: During his court-martial on August 6, 2013 before a panel of 13 officers, Major Nidal Malik Hasan declared that he was the shooter. Hasan is unmarried and was described as socially isolated. Born in the United States, Hasan is a practicing Muslim who, according to one of his cousins, became more devout after

6720-431: Was hit by shrapnel when one of Hasan's bullets struck a nearby rain gutter, and then two bullets struck Munley: the first bullet hit her thigh, and the second hit her knee. As she began to fall from the first bullet, the second bullet struck her femur , shattering it and knocking her to the ground. Hasan walked up to Munley and kicked her pistol out of reach. As the shooting continued outside, nurses and medics entered

6804-467: Was later found on Hasan's person, but he did not use it to shoot any of the victims. After entering the building, Hasan went to the first desk to the right of the North doors and asked to see Major Parrish. MAJ Parrish worked in the building (and had been assisting Hasan in his deployment preparations). The worker went down the hall to get Parrish. According to eyewitnesses, Hasan then went around behind

6888-592: Was mortally wounded before reaching him. Civilian physician assistant Michael Cahill also tried to charge Hasan with a chair, but was shot and killed. Army Reserve Specialist Logan Burnett tried to stop Hasan by throwing a folding table at him, but he was shot in the left hip, fell down, and crawled to a nearby cubicle. According to testimony from witnesses, Hasan passed up several opportunities to shoot civilians, and instead targeted soldiers in uniform, who – in accordance with military policy – were not carrying personal firearms. At one point, Hasan reportedly approached

6972-590: Was not sufficient information for a larger investigation. Senior officers at the Department of Defense stated they were not notified of such investigations before the shootings. Immediately after the shooting, analysts and public officials openly debated Hasan's motive and preceding psychological state: a military activist, Selena Coppa , remarked that Hasan's psychiatrist colleagues "failed to notice how deeply disturbed someone right in their midst was". A spokesperson for U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison , one of

7056-471: Was the director of Hasan's psychiatry fellowship), another psychiatrist, and the director of the Walter Reed psychiatric residency program. According to NPR, fellow students and faculty were "deeply troubled" by Hasan's behavior, which they described as "disconnected", "aloof", " paranoid ", "belligerent" and " schizoid ". Once, while presenting what was supposed to be a medical lecture to other psychiatrists, Hasan talked about Islam, and said that, according to

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