In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America programme today, the son of the man accused of killing security guard Stephen Johns at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, said he wishes his father died instead of Johns.
"The wrong man died that day," Erik von Brunn, the son of white supremacist and antisemite James von Brunn, said. "It's extremely difficult. I love my father, but what he did was unforgivable."
Although his father was vocal about his hatred toward Jews and minorities, Erik von Brunn said he was surprised by the attack: "I never once believed that he could've done anything like this. I never believed it was more than just talk."
Erik von Brunn previously spoke out against his father the day after the shooting saying: "My father's beliefs have been a constant source of verbal and mental abuse my family has had to suffer with for many years. His views consumed him, and in doing so, not only destroyed his life, but destroyed our family and ruined our lives as well."
He also expressed sympathy for the family of the slain security guard: "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."
