Shock Report: Accused Fort Hood Shooter Paid $270K+ While in Prison

In this photo released by the Bell County Sheriff's Office, Nidal Hasan is seen in a booking photo after being moved to the Bell County Jail on April 9, 2010 in Belton, Texas. (Photo by Bell County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images)

Did you know that under the Military Code of Justice the U.S. Army can’t suspend pay for an employee who has been accused of a crime unless he is proven guilty?

It’s true.

And it’s the reason why Nidal Hasan, the accused Fort Hood shooter, has been paid more than $270,000 by the U.S. government since the Nov. 5, 2009, mass shooting that left 13 dead and 32 injured, NBC DFW reports.

“If Hasan had been a civilian defense department employee,” the report continues, “the Army could have suspended his pay after just seven days.

Personnel rules for most civilian government workers allow for "indefinite suspensions" in cases "when the agency has reasonable cause to believe that the employee has committed a crime for which a sentence of imprisonment may be imposed."

But that's not the case here.

Nov. 10, 2009: A memorial to victims of the Fort Hood shooting. (AP)

And if you think it’s outrageous that Hassan has been receiving paychecks while he awaits trial, keep in mind many of the soldiers wounded by his alleged rampage are still fighting to get pay and medical benefits given to those wounded in combat.

Retired Army Spc. Logan Burnett, for example, was shot three times when the shooting spree took place inside the Army Deployment Center.

“I honestly thought I was going to die in that building,” said Burnett. “Just blood everywhere and then the thought of -- that's my blood everywhere.”

In the years after the attack, Burnett has had more than a dozen surgeries – but all without the U.S. military assisting him as it would a soldier wounded in combat.

“I refuse to continue letting Nidal Hasan win. And I leave the ‘Major’ part out, because even though, unfortunately, he's still being paid better than I am, he doesn't deserve that rank,” said Burnett.

Why has the U.S. military refrained from helping these soldiers? Well, as many Blaze readers know, it’s because the shooting has been classified as “workplace violence.”

“Sickens me. Absolutely sickens me. Workplace violence? I don't even know if I have the words to say,” said Burnett, who has recently joined other Fort Hood victims in a lawsuit against the U.S. Army demanding the benefits they say they've been unjustly denied.

"They don't need to be treated like this. They don't need to sit and fight every day for this benefit or that,” said Torey Burnett:

“The Army could get some money back from Hasan by demanding re-payment for the cost of treating the wounds he sustained when a police officer shot him during the incident,” NBC 5 reports.

Hey, at least there's that.

“What happened here is not a case of workplace violence,” said Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.), a former prosecutor at Fort Hood.

“What happened here was an attack on our military by a terrorist element specifically targeting our military, which just so happened to be in the United States of America,” continued, adding that it has “resulted in an embarrassing lack of care and treatment for the victims and their families."

Click here to read the full report.

On TheBlog:Ft. Hood shooter is still collecting a paycheck

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Featured image Getty Images.