Forcibly shaven, convicted Fort Hood shooter appears in court beardless
In addition to being convicted of capital murder in the 2009 shooting massacre of 13 people at Fort Hood, a U.S. Army psychiatrist has lost the beard he fought to keep on religious grounds.
During a court appearance Thursday in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, concerning the appeal process, Nidal Hasan was not wearing a beard. CNN reported in 2013, after Hasan was convicted in a court-martial and sentenced to death, that officials at the military prison there had removed his beard. A Fort Hood spokesman confirmed Thursday that Hasan had been forcibly shaved in accord with military regulations, the Associated Press reports.
An earlier Associated Press story provides more details about the appeal process, but reported details about issues Hasan may raise are scanty.
“One of his complaints, I’m sure, is that ‘you are violating my freedom of religion, I want to grow my beard back’,” observer Jeffrey Addicott told WOAI. “That was a major issue at his trial at Ft. Hood.”
Addicott, a former longtime Army Judge Advocate General officer, is now in charge of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary’s University.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Hasan’s Beard Is Again a Topic as New Military Judge Takes Bench in Fort Hood Massacre Case”
ABAJournal.com: “Prison beard ban violates Muslim inmate’s statutory religious rights, SCOTUS rules”
See also:
Army Times: “Report: Fort Hood shooter showed no early warning signs”
KCEN: “5 years later, Fort Hood still grieves over massacre”
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.): “From death row, Ft. Hood shooter requests to join Islamic State”
