US museum shooter son slams father's 'cowardice'

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090612/ts_alt_afp/usshootingcrimeholocaust_20090612214407

The son of white supremacist James von Brunn, who shot a guard at the entrance of Washington's Holocaust museum this week, slammed the "cowardice" of his father's actions on Friday.

"My father's actions are unforgivable," Erik von Brunn, 32, said in a statement to ABC News. "I do not expect, nor will I accept forgiveness for what he has done," he said.

Erik's 88-year-old father reached the entrance of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in the US capital on Wednesday, raised a .22 caliber rifle and fatally shot African-American museum guard Stephen Tyrone Johns, 39, in the chest.

Security guards returned fire, shot von Brunn and prevented him from entering.

Von Brunn will face murder charges for the crime, officials have said.

"I cannot express enough how deeply sorry I am it was Mr Johns, and not my father who lost their life," the shooter's Florida-based son said.

Erik von Brunn said his father's hatred for racial minorities and Jews destroyed his family, and resulted in the divorce between him and Erik's mother...

Erik von Brunn had blunt words for racists and anti-semites who idolize his father's actions.

"For the extremists who believe my father is a hero: it is imperative you understand what he did was an act of cowardice," he said.
"To physically force your beliefs onto others with violence is not brave, but bullying. Doing so only serves to prove how weak those beliefs are. It is simply desperation, reminiscent of a temper tantrum when a child cannot get his way."