By AP
WASHINGTON – The son of James von Brunn says he wishes it had been his father who died instead of the guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum that the father is accused of killing.
Erik von Brunn says in a statement to ABC News that his father was consumed by white supremacist views that in turn destroyed the family and ruined their lives.
Authorities say 88-year-old James von Brunn shot Stephen Johns in the chest with a vintage rifle after the guard had opened the door for him at the museum entrance. Von Brunn is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Johns, who is black.
Von Brunn was then shot in the face by guards and is expected to survive. A hearing is set for tomorrow in a Washington D.C. federal court on von Brunn's health.
The younger von Brunn says no words can express how deeply sorry he is for what his father did and that extremists who think he's a hero should know that he was instead a coward.