Scandalous suggestion from US presenter: Kill the homeless with lethal injection

Kilmeade made the remarks on Fox & Friends on September 10 while discussing the August 22 stabbing death of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina.

DeCarlos Brown Jr., a 34-year-old homeless man accused of murder, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has 14 prior criminal records.

The presenter responded to his colleague, who said that homeless and mentally ill people should be "imprisoned" to prevent crime, by saying, "Or forced lethal injection. That is, killing them."

These remarks were particularly harshly criticized by many, including California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Apology statement

“We were talking about the need to institutionalize or incarcerate homeless people and people with mental health issues to prevent these kinds of attacks from happening again,” Kilmeade said on the program on September 14.

"I wrongly recommended lethal injection. That was an extremely inconsiderate comment. There are many homeless people and people with mental health issues in North Carolina who are not behaving like the perpetrator. They deserve empathy and compassion."

Reactions and political repercussions

US President Donald Trump called for a speedy trial and the death penalty for the attacker. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the tragedy demonstrated once again that homelessness and mental health issues cannot be solved through punishment alone.

The Justice Department also charged Brown Jr. with "causing death on a public transportation system." That charge carries a penalty of life in prison or the death penalty.