Father Publicly Denounces ‘Prodigal’ Son, Charlottesville White Nationalist Participant

Photo: Screen Shot
Photo: Screen Shot
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It would take something extreme to make a father disown his son, but that’s exactly what Pearce Tefft has done. After he discovered his son, Pete, was a part of the group of white supremacists marching the streets of Charlottesville this weekend, he took an action no father ever wants to take.

Pearce Tefft felt it was important he make a statement publicly, in order to send a powerful message. In an open message on a Inforum, he publicly disowned his son, writing, “I, along with all of his siblings and his entire family, wish to loudly repudiate my son’s vile, hateful, and racist rhetoric and actions.”

The family claims Pete Tefft is no longer welcome at family gatherings, unless he changes his position on racial issues. The Tefft family, from Fargo, North Dakota, does not know how Pete became a white nationalist, but it appears they are heartbroken by the revelation. Pearce Tefft holds out hope that his son will one day change, saying he hopes one day his “prodigal son” will return.

Pearce was unsure about speaking out so loudly, but said it was this sentiment that pushed him to do so:

“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.”

Apparently, Pete Tefft’s Nazi roots have been known around his town for some time, as earlier this year someone put up posters exposing his extremist views, which had been discovered online. He reportedly admitted that he was “100% pro-white” and wanted “legal political action to further pro-white interests.”

No doubt Pete fit in well with his friends at the Charlottesville protest, but he won’t have a family to come home to when it’s all said and done.