Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says that as a younger man, he was on a path of mayhem that seemed destined to end behind bars — until he got scared straight by a viewing of “American History X.”
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The 1998 movie is about an ex-skinhead who goes to prison for murder, suffering a brutal three years behind bars, then emerges to try to stop his younger brother from repeating his cycle of hate and violence.
Mr. Mullin, speaking at a ceremony during Police Week celebrating U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement, said that film was the start of his journey, though ultimately it took him to fully embrace Christianity.
“My life changed when I got saved and I was 20 years old. Until then, my dad said I was more likely to go to prison than I was to be successful,” Mr. Mullin recounted.
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“The truth is, I probably was going down that path. I watched this little movie called ’American History X’ that really changed my life, and I thought, I’m never going to prison after that one,” he said. “But I wasn’t walking down the path I should have been walking down until I realized there was something higher, something bigger than myself.”
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