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Fort Hood shooting: Nidal Hasan says he was the gunman Fort Hood shooting: Nidal Hasan says he was the gunman
(about 7 hours later)
A former US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 soldiers at an Army base in Texas in 2009 has admitted in court he was the gunman and apologised for "any mistakes", as his court martial opened. A former US Army psychiatrist who killed 13 soldiers at a base in Texas in 2009 has admitted in court he was the gunman and apologised for "any mistakes", as his court martial opened.
But Maj Nidal Hasan, 42, told the jury at Fort Hood, Texas, that the evidence told only one side of the story. But Maj Nidal Hasan told the jury at Fort Hood, Texas, that the evidence told only one side of the story.
Maj Hasan has said he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The 42-year-old says he was protecting Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
If convicted on 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder, the US-born Muslim could face execution.If convicted on 13 counts of murder and 32 counts of attempted murder, the US-born Muslim could face execution.
"The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter," Maj Hasan told the jury of 13, including nine colonels, three lieutenant colonels and one major. "The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter," Maj Hasan, who is acting as his own lawyer, told the jury of 13 military officers as the trial began on Tuesday.
He added: "We are imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion." "We are imperfect Muslims trying to establish the perfect religion," added the accused, who uses a wheelchair after being paralysed when he was shot during the attack.
The killings are the deadliest ever non-combat attack on an American military base. He declined to cross-examine any of the witnesses wounded in the assault.
Preparations 'Careful preparations'
During the prosecution's opening statements, Col Steve Henricks said Maj Hasan deliberately targeted "unarmed, unsuspecting and defenceless soldiers" when he opened fire, and planned to "kill as many soldiers as he could". The killings on 5 November 2009 are the deadliest ever non-combat attack on an American military base.
He said Maj Hasan had carefully prepared for the attack, visiting a target practice range, buying a gun, and stuffing paper towels into his trouser pockets to muffle noise from the weapons before he opened fire. During the prosecution's opening statements, Col Steve Henricks said Maj Hasan had deliberately targeted "unarmed, unsuspecting and defenceless soldiers" when he opened fire, and planned to "kill as many soldiers as he could".
He said the accused had prepared carefully for the attack, visiting a target practice range, buying a gun, and stuffing paper towels into his trouser pockets to muffle noise from the weapons before he opened fire.
"All those fully loaded magazines do not clink, do not move, do not give him away," Col Henricks told the jury. "He sits among the soldiers he's about to kill with his head down.""All those fully loaded magazines do not clink, do not move, do not give him away," Col Henricks told the jury. "He sits among the soldiers he's about to kill with his head down."
Judge Col Tara Osborn has already barred Maj Hasan from arguing the attack was undertaken in "defence of others", ruling there was no evidence the soldiers at the base posed any threat to the Taliban leadership - and declaring the justice of the US-led war in Afghanistan would not be up for debate in the court. The court heard that Maj Hasan had first tried to clear the area of civilians, even walking over to a clerk to tell her a supervisor needed her elsewhere in the building.
Col Osborn has also said Maj Hasan will not be allowed to make speeches about his beliefs or try to testify himself while questioning witnesses. He then climbed on to a desk, shouted an Islamic benediction, and opened fire with two handguns, witnesses said.
Witnesses say that on 5 November 2009, Maj Hasan entered a crowded Fort Hood medical building where deploying soldiers were awaiting check-ups and vaccines. 'Dead men don't sweat'
He climbed onto a desk, shouted an Islamic benediction, and opened fire with two handguns, pausing only to reload, witnesses said. According to the prosecution, he fired 146 bullets.
His trial will take place at the same military base near Killeen, Texas, where he carried out the attacks. The attack took place in a crowded medical building where deploying soldiers were awaiting check-ups and vaccines.
Maj Hasan was about to be deployed to Afghanistan. Staff Sgt Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times during the attack, testified how he had played dead.
The prosecution is expected to present evidence of the US-born soldier's radicalisation, including internet searches for "Jihad" and "Taliban" hours before the shootings. Then he worried that the gunman might notice he was perspiring, as "dead men don't sweat".
Delays Sgt Lunsford said he decided to flee and found an exit crammed with other soldiers trying to make their escape, too.
The Pentagon has treated the case as an act of workplace violence, rather than an act of terrorism, a legal distinction that has angered victims and family members, says the BBC's Nick Bryant at Fort Hood. Maj Hasan was himself about to be deployed to Afghanistan at the time of the assault.
Many of those wounded in the attack are expected to testify and may be cross-examined by Maj Hasan, who is acting as his own attorney. But the court heard that he had told a base doctor: "They've got another thing coming if they think they are going to deploy me."
He uses a wheelchair after being paralysed when he was shot in the back by a base police sergeant who responded to the shootings. The government has said Maj Hasan sent more than a dozen emails starting in December 2008 to Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical US-born Islamic cleric killed by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011.
The trial has been delayed by a series of requests for preparation or other issues, including an objection by prosecutors to Maj Hasan's beard, which contravenes military regulations but he was ultimately allowed to keep. Maj Hasan wanted to plead guilty to murder and attempted murder, but military rules forbid guilty pleas in death-penalty cases.
Analysts say the military prosecutors are being extra cautious in order to avoid anything that could lead to a reversal of a guilty verdict. There is outrage in the US that he is still receiving his salary, despite having admitted the attack.
If found guilty and sentenced to death, Maj Hasan would have multiple automatic appeals available to him. And even if those are ultimately unsuccessful it could be decades before any eventual execution. He has reportedly received wages totalling nearly $300,000 (£200,000) while awaiting trial.