Fox News host Brian Kilmeade apologized Sunday for suggesting on live nationwide TV that executing homeless people with mental illness would be a viable way to prevent violent attacks.
The notion of a link between homelessness, mental illness and violence arose last Wednesday as “Fox & Friends” co-hosts Kilmeade, Lawrence Jones and Ainsley Earhardt discussed the Aug. 22 slaying of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a commuter train. Alleged attacker Decarlos Brown Jr., a homeless man with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, now faces federal murder charges, and President Trump has called for the death penalty.
Jones claimed that many people refuse to accept treatment or participate in programs and suggested an ultimatum. “Either you take the resources that we’ll give you, or you decide that you are going to be locked up in jail,” he suggested.
“Or, ah, involuntary lethal injection, or something,” Kilmeade interjected offhandedly. “Just kill ’em.”
Backlash erupted through the weekend over the remark — and Kilmeade’s casual delivery.
On Sunday he appeared briefly on “Fox & Friends” to explain his comment had grown out of a discussion on “how to stop these kind of attacks by homeless mentally ill assailants, including institutionalizing or jailing such people so they cannot attack again” ahead of his apology.
“Now, during that discussion I wrongly said they should get lethal injections,” Kilmeade said. “I apologize for that extremely callous remark. I’m obviously aware that not all mentally ill homeless people act as the perpetrator did in North Carolina, and that so many homeless people deserve empathy and compassion.”
Research shows people who have mental illness are more likely to be victims than perpetrators, and similar statistics hold for people who are homeless, though public stigma persists.
Kilmeade’s remarks landed the day before an assassin’s bullet killed right-wing activist Charlie Kirk as he spoke at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Several people have called for Kilmeade’s ouster, especially after MSNBC’s firing of Matthew Dowd for his comments about Kirk’s alleged divisiveness.
With News Wire Services
