“My father’s beliefs have been a constant source of verbal and mental abuse my family has had to suffer with for many years.” Those words introduce a statement by Erik von Brunn, son of Holocaust Memorial Museum shooter James von Brunn, released to ABC News. Erik and his family will no doubt always be marked by the shameful beliefs and actions of his father. The younger von Brunn’s statement reveals courage, addressing with great remorse the family of museum security guard Stephen Johns and with great clarity the radical extremists who view the elder von Brunn’s actions as heroic. Erik writes, “I realize there is nothing positive to be taken from this incident. It is empowering, however, to know our country’s resistance and intolerance for such acts of hatred has been bolstered in the face of this tragedy.” Empowering, indeed: knowing that James von Brunn’s unfounded hatred was not passed down to the next generation.