Mass Murder Defendant Excluded From Military Courtroom Because of Beard

Yesterday, according to AP, a military judge at Texas' Fort Hood implemented a warning given earlier this month to accused mass killer Maj. Nidal Hasan (see prior posting), and had him removed from a hearing in his own case to a nearby room where he can watch he proceedings on closed circuit television.  The judge, Colonel Gregory Gross, took the action after Hasan appeared with a beard that Hasan's attorney says the defendant has grown for religious reasons. The beard violates the Army's grooming regulations. Hasan is charged with opening fire after shouting "Allahu Akbar!" in a Fort Hood medical building where deploying and returning soldiers were receiving vaccines and other tests.