Museum gunman's son: I wish my cowardly father had died
The son of white supremacist gunman James von Brunn has called his father a coward and said he wished he had died in the US Holocaust Museum rampage instead of his security guard victim.
Erik von Brunn, 32, said his 88-year-old father had “destroyed” his family with his race-hate views.
James Von Brunn is charged with first-degree murder over the death of Stephen Johns, who was black, at the museum in Washington DC last Wednesday.
“I cannot express enough how deeply sorry I am it was Mr Johns, and not my father who lost (his) life,” Erik von Brunn told ABC News.
“It was unjustified and unfair that he died and while my condolences could never begin to offer appeasement, they, along with my remorse, is all I have to give.”
Authorities say James von Brunn shot the security guard in the chest with a vintage rifle after Mr Johns opened the door for him.
Von Brunn was shot in the face by other security guards but is expected to survive.
A magistrate judge will hear about von Brunn’s health today in a DC federal court.
“His views consumed him, and in doing so, not only destroyed his life, but destroyed our family and ruined our lives as well,” Erik von Brunn said.
Mr von Brunn an aspiring teacher and fiction writer who recently graduated from the University of Maryland, told the Washington Post from his mother’s home in Homosassa, Florida, that he had a decent relationship with his father, who never insisted that his son share his views, but was disappointed when he did not.
Court documents indicate that James von Brunn had been living with his son in a condominium in Annapolis, Maryland.
Mr von Brunn said he never imagined that his father would take a life.
“I never had any inclination to think that. The man is 88 years old. I never would have thought he could do this,” he said. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s a shock.”
Mr von Brunn praised Mr Johns, “who bravely sacrificed his life”, and addressed those who shared his father’s views.
“For the extremists who believe my father is a hero: it is imperative that you understand what he did was an act of cowardice,” he said.
