DHS Secretary Defends Livestreamed Public Execution, Says Trump ‘Restoring American Values’

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that the prospect of livestreaming the execution of convicted Ford Hood murderer Nidal Hassan is part of “restoring American values.”

Hasan, who was previously a psychiatrist for the Army, was convicted in 2013 of 45 counts of premeditated and attempted murder after he killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. It was the deadliest non-combat attack on an American military base. He was shot during the attack and is now in a wheelchair.

He is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3 by the military. Last week, on Oct. 8., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution would be public while the Pentagon confirmed to Military.com that the current plan involves “livestreaming” Hasan’s death.

“First of all, no one has to watch it,” Mullin said Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation. “I follow President Trump. He’s the commander in chief of the country, and he does a phenomenal job. He leads this country with a very, very, very direct, forward, straight hand, and he’s restoring American values.”

If it ultimately is approved and goes on as intended, it would mark the first public execution in the United States since 1936. The plan has drawn bipartisan criticism and has also attracted backlash from human rights activists.

Mullin also said that he did not believe broadcasting the execution would fuel radicalization.

“I don’t see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this,” he 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.”

“I have no sympathy for him, and I give absolutely zero thought to the way that this man dies,” he added.

Military.com reached out to DHS for comment and received no immediate response.

Trump, Vance Have Different Reactions to the Plan

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have had different reactions to Hegseth’s desire for a public, livestreamed execution.

Trump said Oct. 9 during a White House event that Hasan will be getting “the death penalty through firing squad. And he deserves it.” Trump called him “a maniac.”

But the same day, when asked about his feelings towards a public execution being broadcast to the masses, Vance said if it comes to fruition he is “not going to be watching it.”

“So, whatever the controversy is about the method of the execution, I hope that people don’t forget that this is a guy who brutally murdered a lot of innocent people,” Vance also told reporters.

Hegseth said last week that “people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.”

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told CNN last week that the idea was “disgusting.”

The United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that if the public killing went ahead, it would “breach the absolute prohibition of torture.”