Mullin says livestreamed execution sends a message as he faces homeland radicalization questions

WASHINGTON, DC: Amid rising scrutiny of the Trump administration’s decision to livestream the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood mass shooter Nidal Hasan, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the decision.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in an interview with podcaster Jack Posobiec, announced that the firing squad execution of a convicted mass shooter will be made "public" through a livestream.

Markwayne Mullin dismisses livestreaming execution concerns

Appearing on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday, October 11, Mullin was pressed on the administration’s decision to livestream an execution of a convicted killer.

Mullin was questioned over the rising concern that livestreaming the execution of a man who is in wheelchair might garner sympathy for him and turn him into a martyr in the eyes of people who believe in his cause.

“Couldn't this be a risk to the homeland?” moderator Margaret Brennan asked Mullin.

Mullin dismissed concerns that livestreaming Nidal Hasan’s execution could turn him into a martyr or fuel radicalization.

“Have you weighed the risk here of radicalization of just creating a risk?” Brennan pressed him again.

“Margaret, we weigh- we weigh the risk every single day in this country. The Department of Homeland Security, that's what we do: is we protect the homeland,” he said as he began to answer the question, saying he sees “no elevated risk” to the homeland.

“I think people need to understand if you attack- if you attack America, we will come after you, and we will make sure that the- that the punishment fits the crime,” Mullin added.

Markwayne Mullin defends Trump when pressed on livestream decision

During the interview, Mullin said that people don’t necessarily have to watch the livestream of the execution. Then Brennan pressed him on why the administration is livestreaming it in the first place.

Under existing Army rules, a military execution can already be witnessed by a limited group, including the prisoner’s family, the victims’ families, members of the press and a chaplain.

When Mullin tried to redirect the answer toward how inhuman a person Hasan was and that the DHS secretary had no sympathy for him, the moderator repeated her question: Why livestreaming then?

Mullin began his answer with praise of Trump and said that the commander-in-chief is taking the country in the right direction.

“He leads this country with a very, very, very direct, forward, straight hand, and he's restoring America values and bringing us and bringing- where America should be back in line,” Mullin said.

His comments come as Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Kevin Cramer warn that giving the execution an audience could provide radical extremists exactly what they want and create a potential martyrdom risk.