US homeland security chief dismisses security threat from public execution

A top Trump administration official said on Sunday that the planned live stream execution of the perpetrator of a mass killing of US soldiers would not pose an additional security risk to the United States.

“I don’t see an elevated risk at this point at all because of this,” US Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin told CBS News’ Face the Nation, when asked if it risked turning the perpetrator into a martyr for his cause.

“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,” he added.

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.