DHS defends plan to livestream Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan's execution
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has defended plans to publicly broadcast the firing squad execution of Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan, due in December.
US government backs livestream of firing squad execution despite bipartisan criticism
The head of the US Department of Homeland Security has rejected warnings that broadcasting the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan could fuel radicalisation, as bbc.co.uk reports that a final decision on the livestream has not yet been made.
"I don't see an elevated risk," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Sunday. "I think people need to understand that if you attack America, we will come after you, and we will make sure that the punishment fits the crime."
Hasan, 56, a former US Army Major and psychiatrist from Virginia, is scheduled to be executed by firing squad in December for fatally shooting 13 unarmed soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. A further 32 people were injured in the attack. Hasan was shot during the incident and now uses a wheelchair.
President Donald Trump has said he signed off on the execution and broadly supports the livestream plan, though no final decision has been confirmed. The proposal was announced by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last week and would represent the first public execution in the United States in nearly a century.
Mullin, speaking on CBS programme Face the Nation, dismissed concerns about national security and martyrdom, saying he gave "absolutely zero thought to the way that this man dies." He added that his department had weighed up the relevant risks before taking a position.
The plan has drawn sharp criticism from politicians across party lines. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska described it as "gruesome" and said livestreaming an execution was something she would expect "from terrorists and dictators, but not here in America." She warned it would give Hasan "the martyrdom he seeks" and argued on X that "how we carry out justice matters just as much as the justice itself."
Virginia Democrat Senator Mark Warner raised separate national security concerns. "Beyond the profound moral concerns, a public execution could hand terrorist organizations a propaganda victory, fuel radicalization, and put American service members, diplomats, and citizens overseas at greater risk," he wrote.
In court, Hasan apologised for "any mistakes" and said he believed he was defending Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan from the US military. His execution would be the first carried out by the US military since 1961, and its first firing squad execution since the Second World War.
Source: The Sun