Al-Qaida threatens Americans over Hasan execution

Al-Qaida and its supporters are threatening to kill Americans, including U.S. soldiers, and hijack airplanes if Fort Hood mass murderer Nidal Hasan is executed.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula warned Monday that it would execute American hostages in retaliation for the scheduled Dec. 3 execution of Hasan, the former Army major who murdered 13 people and wounded 32 others at the Texas Army base in 2009, the Washington Examiner reported.

“The day America makes this decision,” the Islamic terrorist organization said in a statement, “it will have made a decision to execute whoever among you falls captive to us.”

The threat follows warnings from an al-Qaida supporter in Yemen that Hasan’s execution could provoke attacks against American military personnel and commercial aviation.

According to an Oct. 7 report from the Middle East Media Research Institute’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor, the supporter posted a message on Telegram suggesting that executing Hasan could lead to the “hijacking of American planes and the killing of American soldiers.”

The supporter cited a March 2010 threat by then-al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who warned that executing captured terrorists, including Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would prompt retaliation against American soldiers.

The warnings come as President Donald Trump’s administration prepares to carry out Hasan’s death sentence by firing squad at Fort Hood on Dec. 3.

Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, opened fire at the installation’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center on Nov. 5, 2009.

He was convicted in August 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.

Before the massacre, Hasan communicated with Anwar al-Awlaki, the now-deceased American-born al-Qaida ideologue who encouraged terrorist attacks against the U.S.

The upcoming execution has also sparked debate over War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the punishment would be livestreamed.

A War Department official told the Examiner on Monday that the livestream plan remained in place.

“The secretary is correct. It will be livestreamed. Details will follow,” the official said.

However, Trump indicated Saturday that he had not made a final decision about broadcasting the execution.

“There are two thoughts: Don’t show it and show it,” Trump told reporters.

The president suggested a public broadcast might deter future attacks but said he would ultimately decide whether to authorize it.

Al-Qaida’s latest threats add a national security dimension to the debate, although neither the group’s statement nor the supporter’s online warning establishes that an attack is imminent.

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Al-Qaida threatens Americans over Hasan execution