Homeland Security chief defends livestreaming a Fort Hood shooter’s execution
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the Pentagon’s plan to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, CBS News reported. Politico said Mullin dismissed concerns that a broadcast could radicalize viewers. Pope Leo XIV denounced the death penalty as “inadmissible” ahead of the planned livestream, Fox News reported. Earlier coverage placed the firing-squad execution in December, and Trump said Saturday that he will make the final decision on whether to show it.
A broadcast execution would be the first of its kind in the modern U.S. It raises questions about the dignity of the condemned and of victims’ families, and whether cameras belong in the death chamber.
Nothing changes for readers directly. Platforms and broadcasters, though, would have to decide whether to carry the footage.
A mass killer was lawfully sentenced, and the public can see the punishment as a matter of transparency.
Turning an execution into a broadcast degrades the law and could harm victims’ families.
Watch whether Trump confirms the livestream and whether the Pentagon names a date. Until then it is a plan, not a schedule.
DailyDrop U.S. No. 8 · October 12, 2026