Trump’s homeland security chief defends public execution of wheelchair-bound murderer as part of president’s move to ‘restore American values’

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has defended the Pentagon's decision to publicly execute the wheelchair-bound Fort Hood killer, saying President Trump wants to 'restore American values.'Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday that Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death after killing 13...

Ghanamma

October 12, 2026Ghana

By MELISSA KOENIG, US REPORTER 04:40 12 Oct 2026, updated 04:40 12 Oct 2026

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has defended the Pentagon’s decision to publicly execute the wheelchair-bound Fort Hood killer, saying President Trump wants to ‘restore American values.’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday that Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death after killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, would be put to death in a live broadcast.

The decision sparked widespread outrage, with even some Republicans slamming the Trump administration for a dystopian and inhumane handling of an execution.

But Mullin told CBS News host Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday that he follows President Trump’s lead.

‘He’s the commander in chief of the country and he does a phenomenal job,’ the DHS secretary said. ‘He leads this country with a very, very direct, forward, straight hand and he’s restoring American values.’

Mullin then went on to note that ‘No one has to watch it if they don’t choose to,’ and refuted some of his colleagues’ concerns that the public execution would turn Hasan into a martyr or encourage further radicalization.

He said he doesn’t ‘see an elevated risk.’

‘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,’ Mullin asserted, adding that he has ‘no sympathy’ for Hasan.

‘I give absolutely zero thought to the way this man dies,’ he said.

But while Trump initially backed the idea of a public execution, claiming that the killer ‘deserves it,’ he said on Saturday that he had not made a final decision on whether Hasan’s execution would be live streamed.

‘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.

He went on to call Hasan a ‘vicious killer,’ noting that 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,’ the president added.

Hasan had been convicted in 2013 of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder for the killings.

He told officers that he was targeting soldiers deploying to Afghanistan because they were ‘going to engage in an illegal war.’

Hasan descended on a medical processing center at Fort Hood and followed soldiers out the back door before exchanging gunfire with police, becoming paralyzed in the process.

He is now scheduled to die by firing squad on December 3.

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.

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