Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan finally has his beard removed in prison

The Army psychiatrist sentenced to death for the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood had his beard forcibly shaved in prison, according to an Army spokesperson.

Nidal Hasan started growing the beard sometime after his arrest for the shooting rampage that killed 13 people and wounded 30 at Fort Hood in Texas.

Hasan's beard caused a delay in his court-martial of more than three months because the court claimed it violated Army grooming regulations.

The court martial's original judge, Col. Gregory Gross, insisted Hasan cut off his scraggly beard in accordance with military rules that say "males will keep their face clean-shaven when in uniform or in civilian clothes on duty."

The American-born Muslim refused, claiming the beard was not meant as a show of disrespect but was required by his faith and protected under freedom of religious expression.

"Your honor, in the name of almighty Allah, I am a Muslim," Hasan told Col.  Gross in an October hearing.

"I believe that my religion requires me to wear a beard."

The fight over Hasan's facial hair finally went to an appeals court, which ruled that Col. Gross did not appear impartial and removed him from the bench.

They replaced him with Col. Tara Osborn, who allowed Hasan to keep the beard during last month's trial.

According to the Associated Press, Col. Osborn warned that although she would not hold his refusal to shave against him, the military jurors might.

Hasan is now an inmate on the military death row at the US Detention Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

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