DHS Chief Defends Plan to Livestream Fort Hood Gunman Execution

Caption: Markwayne Mullin at a Breitbart event on October 6, 2026. Credit: Tia Dufour / DHS / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended a proposal to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood attack. Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, Mullin said he did not see an elevated security risk from allowing the public to watch.

President Donald Trump has said the ultimate choice about the broadcast is his. That leaves the livestream proposal unsettled even as Hasan’s military death sentence remains in place.

What the Pentagon Proposed

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described a plan to broadcast Hasan’s execution, scheduled for December 3. Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009. CBS News reported that the planned execution would be the first carried out by the U.S. military since 1961.

The Pentagon proposal concerns public access to the execution, not a new verdict or change in the underlying conviction. Details about any final broadcast format or access rules had not been settled in the reporting.

Republicans Offer Different Responses

Mullin defended the concept and said those who objected to viewing it could choose not to watch. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski called for the plan to be reversed and questioned the decision to broadcast the execution publicly.

Vice President JD Vance said he would not watch such a broadcast. That statement described his personal choice; it was not an announcement that the administration had withdrawn the proposal.

Trump Retains the Final Call

On Saturday, Trump acknowledged differing views and said he would decide. The unresolved decision is whether an execution already scheduled under military authority will also be shown to the public.

References: DHS secretary defends livestream of Fort Hood shooter’s execution, says he doesn’t see an “elevated risk” to U.S.