Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist sentenced to death for the November 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that left 13 dead and 20 wounded, has been forcibly shaved.
Army regulations prohibit beards. Officials at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where Hasan is currently incarcerated, had previously said that Hasan would be subject to Army regulations.
Hasan, a Muslim, grew the beard before his court martial began because of his faith. It led to legal troubles when Colonel Gregory Gross, the military judge who initially handled Hasan’s court-martial, ordered Hasan to be clean-shaven, forcibly or otherwise, to comply with Army regulations. Hasan appealed, arguing that the beard was required by his faith and not meant as a show of disrespect. The issue led to the removal of Gross by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which ruled that Gross, who had found Hasan in contempt of court for the beard at six pretrial hearings, had not appeared impartial during the trial.
The appeal delayed the court-martial by more than three months. The replacement judge, Colonel Tara Osborn, allowed Hasan to keep his beard.