Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan Forcibly Shaved For Court-Martial

After months of speculation and several suggestive reports, we can confirm that the accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan will indeed be forcibly shaved for his court-martial, as ordered by Col. Gregory Gross, the judge who will oversee the military trial.

Tyler Broadway, a spokesman at Fort Hood, confirmed that Hasan can and will be forcibly shaved for his trial, and order that flies against the defendant’s religious convictions. The last time he was in court, Hasan told the judge, “Your honor, in the name of almighty Allah, I am a Muslim. I believe that my religion requires me to wear a beard,” and the battle over bearded Hasan v. shaven Hasan has raged ever since.

Hasan’s attorney filed an appeal when Gross originally threatened Hasan with forcible shaving, but the appeals court said that it wouldn’t decide on the issue until the forcible shaving was actually ordered. Now that it has been, the door is opened for the appeal which would further delay the case (even though it has already been delayed since 2009).

Gross has said that Hasan’s beard violates Army regulations, and as Hasan is still an officer in the US Army, he is subject to those regulations (which, we should note, Hasan seemed to have no qualms with prior to the Fort Hood shooting).

Nidal Hasan is accused of killing 13 people and wounding an additional 32 in the Fort Hood Massacre of 2009. His court-martial had been scheduled to start last month at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

Do you think that Hasan should be forcibly shaved?