AI-written summary of reporting by The Straits Times. No human editor reviewed this. AI can misread or omit facts — read the original, linked below.
ABSTRACT

WASHINGTON — US Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin said on Oct 11 that the planned livestream execution of the perpetrator of a mass killing of US soldiers would not pose an additional security risk to the United States. Mullin, speaking to CBS News' Face the Nation, also said no one has to watch it if they do not choose to.

The Straits Times

US Homeland Security chief Mullin says livestreamed execution poses no added risk

Oct 11, 2026, 4:53 PM

WASHINGTON — US Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin said on Oct 11 that the planned livestream execution of the perpetrator of a mass killing of US soldiers would not pose an additional security risk to the United States. Mullin, speaking to CBS News' Face the Nation, also said no one has to watch it if they do not choose to.

Context

Nidal Hasan, 56, a US Army psychiatrist, shot dead 13 people and wounded more than 30 in an Al-Qaeda-inspired attack at a military base at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. He would be the first person executed by a US military firing squad since 1945.

The plan to publicly broadcast his death by firing squad, scheduled for Dec 3, was first put forward by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon on Oct 8, drawing condemnation in the United States and beyond.

President Donald Trump later left uncertain whether the execution would be publicly broadcast.

All Perspectives
Markwayne Mullin: Asked whether the plan risked turning the perpetrator into a martyr for his cause, Mullin told CBS News' Face the Nation: "I don't see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this." He added: "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." Pressed on Oct 11 about livestreaming, he said: "No one has to watch it if they don't choose to," and said Trump "leads this country with a very, very, very direct, forward, straight hand, and he's restoring America values and bringing us... where America should be."
Andy Burnham: Burnham condemned the possibility of a public execution in the US as "abhorrent," and told The Rest is Politics podcast: "It's something that I can't say I ever want to see anywhere in the world."
Position not represented in the source reporting: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon; President Donald Trump; Nidal Hasan.
Gaps & Unknowns
  • The source does not state the rationale given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or the Pentagon for proposing that the execution be publicly broadcast.
  • The source does not state whether the execution will in fact be broadcast.
  • The source does not state the year of the Dec 3 execution date.
  • The source does not state Nidal Hasan's response to the execution plan or whether he was given an opportunity to comment.
  • The source does not identify the parties behind the condemnation it describes in the United States and beyond, beyond Andy Burnham.
  • The source describes Andy Burnham as UK prime minister; it does not state the basis for that title.
  • The source describes the Fort Hood victims both as US soldiers and as 13 people killed; it does not state how many of the dead were service members.
Sources & Further Reading
  1. The Straits Times — original

Read the original at The Straits Times

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