Nidal Hasan to court: ‘Evidence wil show I am the shooter’ and a Muslim holy warrior

Maj. Nidal Hasan is on trial for his life, accused of a shooting rampage that left 13 people dead (14 if we count the unborn child) and more than 30 wounded at Ft. Hood in Texas.

Hasan is representing himself and does not deny even being the shooter: “The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter,” Hasan said in his brief opening statement.

Hasan called himself a “mujahedeen,” or a Muslim holy warrior.

“We mujahedeen are imperfect soldiers trying to form a perfect religion. I apologize for any mistakes I made in this endeavor,” he said.

Prosecutors accused Hassan of wanting to kill Americans as part of a plan to conduct a Muslim holy war or jihad.

“He didn’t want to deploy and he came to believe he had a jihad duty to murder soldiers,” said Col. Steve Henricks. He wanted to “kill as many soldiers as he could.”

“Witnesses will testify that war is an ugly thing. Death, destruction and devastation are felt from both sides, from friend and foe. Evidence from this trial will only show one side. I was on the wrong side, but I switched sides.”

The trial, which is estimated to cost the federal government $5 million, opened under heavy security. Armed guards ringed the courthouse, surrounded by a fence of metal shipping containers stacked three high and specially constructed sand-filled barriers.

Hasan is wheelchair-bound because he was paralyzed when police shot him.

Hassan faces lethal injection if convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. A unanimous guilty verdict is required for execution but even that decision would likely be subject to years — potentially decades — of complex appeals, according to Reuters.