The parents of Micah Johnson spoke exclusively to Lawrence Jones of TheBlaze Sunday evening, just three hours following the memorial service for their son. Wary and distrustful of the media, the family reached out to Jones after seeing his coverage of the story on TV.
"It was a very dicey thing, because they didn't want to talk to any members of the press. But Lawrence, I think she felt --- and correct me if I'm wrong --- that you were somebody who's going to go in and listen and let her tell her side of the story. Is that correct?" Glenn asked during his radio program Monday morning.
"That's correct because I didn't call her. Even when she reached out initially, I didn't call her again to say can you do this time. I waited for her to call me back. There was a certain part of me that didn't even want to touch it, because I'm not a journalist, you know, I'm a commentator," Lawrence said.
With major news outlets camped outside the Johnson family home, Lawrence managed to sit down for an exclusive conversation with the family, who wanted to clarify news reports and speak about their son.
The interview spanned 90 minutes and covered a myriad of topics, including reports about Johnson's military history, his alleged association with the Nation of Islam and bomb-making materials found in his room. Regarding his military service, the family made very clear that Johnson went into the military idealistic about his country and government, and returned a very different person.
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"They separated his life between when he entered the military and when he left the military," Lawrence said.
Following his service, Johnson became disappointed and disillusioned.
"He was very disappointed, very disappointed," Johnson's mother said. "It may be that the ideal that he thought of our government, of what he thought the military represented, it just didn't live up to his expectations."
Lawrence specifically wanted to address reports of racism and whether or not Johnson, whose stepmother Donna Johnson is white, hated white people.
"I even asked her a question, because this is key to this whole story: Did Micah hate white people?" Lawrence said.
While acknowledging his frustration over perceived injustices, his stepmother staunchly defended him on this point.
"He loved me. He did not hate white people. He loved my family. He had friends of all shapes and sizes and colors. We just . . . we didn't see that in one another. It was a deep abiding love. He is . . . he was a great kid. Very respectful," Mrs. Johnson said.
Glenn speculated about another theory that might have pushed Johnson over the edge.
"I'm wondering if this is the Bubba effect. The Bubba effect is the government isn't doing its job. There is no such thing as justice. They're not obeying their own rules. They're not who they say they are. They're lying to us. And we're not going to get anywhere with these liars," Glenn wondered.
"He hated liars. She wanted to say that," Lawrence added.
The full interview with the Johnson family will be available Wednesday on TheBlaze.
Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
Featured Image: Screenshot courtesy of TheBlaze.
