Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has defended the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the wheelchair-bound Fort Hood shooter, saying President Donald Trump is working to “restore American values.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that Hasan would be put to death in a live broadcast. Hasan was sentenced to death after killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
The proposal has triggered fierce backlash, including from Republican lawmakers who criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the execution as dystopian and inhumane.
Speaking Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Mullin told host Margaret Brennan that he stands behind the president’s position.
“He’s the commander in chief of the country and he does a phenomenal job,” Mullin said. “He leads this country with a very, very direct, forward, straight hand and he’s restoring American values.”
Mullin also argued that viewers would not be required to watch the broadcast. He dismissed concerns from some colleagues that showing the execution could turn Hasan into a martyr or fuel further radicalization.
“I don’t see an elevated risk,” Mullin said.
“I think people need to understand, if you attack America, we will come after you and we will make sure that the punishment fits the crime,” he added, saying he has “no sympathy” for Hasan.
“I give absolutely zero thought to the way this man dies,” Mullin said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the Pentagon’s plan to livestream Nidal Hasan’s execution
Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people when he opened fire inside a medical facility at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009
Trump initially endorsed the idea of broadcasting the execution, saying Hasan “deserves it.” However, the president said Saturday that he has not yet made a final decision on whether the death sentence will be livestreamed.
“There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it. Cause you know, by showing it, maybe other people won’t be doing what he did. So I’ll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but I’ll make a decision,” Trump said.
The president described Hasan as a “vicious killer,” saying the former Army major murdered 13 people “in cold blood” and wounded 20 others.
“Some of those people will never have their lives back in a true sense,” Trump said.
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Hasan was convicted in 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in connection with the attack.
He told investigators that he had targeted soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan because they were “going to engage in an illegal war.”
Hasan entered a medical processing center at Fort Hood and opened fire before following soldiers through a rear exit and exchanging gunfire with police. He was paralyzed during the confrontation.
His execution by firing squad is scheduled for December 3.
President Donald Trump initially backed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the execution but said Saturday that he would make the final decision
Hegseth then unveiled his plan for a public execution during an interview on Jack Posobiec’s podcast, arguing that it would be public ‘because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.’
The Defense Secretary added that the execution by firing squad was a return to tactics used by the US Army in World War II.
He said he liked ‘the mentality we had in World War II, which was win. Which was understand when the enemy attacks you, you stand your ground.’
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, swiftly hit out at Hegseth for proposing the idea, urging the Pentagon on Friday to reverse the ‘gruesome decision’ and saying there is ‘no need to livestream any execution, including this one.
‘I would expect this from terrorists and dictators, but not here in America,’ she posted on X, arguing a livestreamed execution ‘would give this individual, who deserves no further notoriety, the martyrdom he seeks.’
Republican Senator Thom Tillis further declared that public executions are ‘what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do.’
‘It should not be happening in America,’ the North Carolina senator wrote on X, adding that streaming the death was ‘beyond disgusting.’
GOP Senator Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, also expressed his concerns that the livestream could fuel further radicalization.
The UN human rights office also declared on Friday that broadcasting the killing ‘is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture.’
Meanwhile, Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff told MS Now that the Defense Secretary is ‘a deeply unwell person who seems to relish this kind of brutality.’
He accused Hegseth of staging an ‘obscene medieval spectacle’ while ‘running a department that is falling into chaos.’
‘The guy cannot run the military competently,’ Ossoff added.