The father of a white nationalist caught on camera protesting at the Charlottesville rally has publicly disowned his son.
Pearce Tefft, whose son Pete was with a group of white supremacists in Virginia at the weekend, has said his son is no longer welcome at family gatherings unless he changes his beliefs.
Pearce, who’s in his 60s from Fargo, North Dakota, penned an open letter to the Inforum.
Pearce wrote:
I, along with all his siblings and his entire family, wish to loudly repudiate my son’s vile, hateful, and racist rhetoric actions.
I have shared my home and hearth with friends and acquaintances of every race, gender, and creed.
I have taught all of my children that all men and women are created equal, that we must love each other all the same.
Pearce insists he doesn’t know where his son picked up his extremist beliefs and although reluctant to speak about Pete, he acknowledged:
It was the silence of good people that allowed the Nazis to flourish the first time around, and it is the silence of good people that is allowing them to flourish now.
My son is not welcome at our family gatherings any longer. I pray my prodigal son will renounce his hateful beliefs and return home.
Peter, you will have to shovel our bodies into the oven, too. Please son, renounce the hate, accept and love all.
Pearce isn’t the only member of the family to speak out about his son’s nationalism:
A woman named Jo, reportedly Pete Tefft’s niece, tweeted:
Pete Tefft literally had a psychotic break while high on acid and turned into a Nazi one day. That’s it. That’s the story.
His nephew Jacob also denounced him, telling WDAY 6, the whole family, are ‘bleeding heart liberals’ and were horrified by Tefft who even made threats against his own family.
Tefft has previously admitted to being ‘100 per cent pro-white’ after a series of posters were plastered around his home town back in January, naming him as a Nazi.
The posters were put up after an activist noticed Pete’s extreme political views online, including his alleged Tinder account that read:
We must secure the existence for our people and a future for white children.
Speaking via e-mail to the Inforum, Tefft said his post reflected a desire for a white wife and white children:
I’m a white Christian and 100 per cent pro-white. ‘White Supremacist’ is a word used to intimidate Christians and to stifle discord when all of us should be communicating.
I’m interested solely in legal political action to further pro-white interests.
We as white people have a right to exist, our own identity, and a right to campaign politically and legally for our own interests.
One woman was killed at the event and another 19 were injured after a white supremacist ploughed his car into the crowd.
