Judge Orders Ft. Hood Shooter Shaved

Col. Gregory Gross, the judge presiding over Major Nidal Hasan’s court-marshal, has ordered Hasan be taken from the court room and shaved.

Gross had decided to have Hasan forcibly shaved last month, when the Court of Appeals stepped in and prevented it for a time. But when pre-trail proceedings restarted and Hasan appeared again defiantly bearded in Gross’s courtroom, the judge stopped the hearing and said the court will not reconvene until Hasan has been shaved.

Hasan claims the beard is an expression of his Islamic beliefs. However, the prosecution believes the beard could make Hasan unrecognizable to eyewitnesses.

Whether this is true or not, Major Hasan is still in the Army, and Col. Gross says he must shave per Army regulations.