‘This has to end’: Vivek Ramaswamy slams system failure after Indian Chandra Nagamallaiah’s beheading in Dallas

Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy has broken his silence on the gruesome killing of Chandra Nagamallaiah, an Indian-origin hotel manager in Dallas, who was brutally beheaded in front of his wife and young son. The assailant, Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, an undocumented immigrant from Cuba with a long history of violent crimes, used a machete to carry out the attack after a workplace disagreement.

The chilling video of the incident, which went viral, showed Cobos-Martinez beheading Nagamallaiah and then kicking his severed head, triggering horror among the Indian diaspora and calls for accountability.

Ramaswamy’s strong criticism

Ramaswamy condemned what he described as “lawlessness” and a failure of the U.S. justice system.

“A man in Dallas was just beheaded by an illegal immigrant with a history of violent crime, who even had a final order of deportation issued by a court. His name was Chandra Nagamallaiah. This has to end,” Ramaswamy said.

He added that Cuba had refused to take Cobos-Martinez back due to his violent record, leaving him free in the United States despite multiple arrests. “Here’s the truth, most major violent crimes are committed by tiny number of people and we know who they are because they tend to be repeated offenders. Solving the problem isn’t rocket science,” he said on X.

“The fact this isn’t a bigger story shows how numb we’ve become to preventable violence. What it takes is courage, and that is what I intend to bring,” he declared.

Ro Khanna echoes outrage

Democrat leader Ro Khanna also issued a statement, calling the killing “horrific”. He stressed that the attacker’s record of arrests for theft and child endangerment should have been enough to remove him from U.S. streets long ago. “The brutal beheading of a hardworking Indian-American immigrant in front of his wife and son is horrific. He should not have been free on American streets,” Khanna wrote.

Growing criticism of political silence

The belated responses came after Indian-American politicians faced criticism for not speaking out immediately, despite the graphic video drawing widespread attention online. Community leaders accused mainstream American media of downplaying the killing of an Indian-origin immigrant, in sharp contrast to the extensive coverage of other recent attacks.

The beheading occurred against the backdrop of other shocking incidents, including the stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train and the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charles Kirk. Together, these cases have fuelled debate on violent crime, immigration enforcement, and failures in public safety.

For the Indian diaspora, Nagamallaiah’s killing has underscored long-standing concerns about the vulnerability of immigrant workers. As one community group noted, “If a man with a machete and a record of violent crime can stay on American streets, then the system is broken.”