Karen Amsden sat down with CNN’s Sara Sidner for Anderson Cooper 360 Wednesday to talk about her son, Jared Boyce. Boyce was one of 31 men with alleged ties to the white nationalist group Patriot Front, who were arrested in Idaho on Saturday for conspiracy to riot at a nearby Pride event. Amsted had hoped that the arrest would make her son rethink his affiliation with the group, but that wasn’t the case.
“When he came home, I was really hoping he might have had a wake up call,” Amsden said. “But when he came back on Monday and I went out to the house to talk to him, and he believes in what they did. He was standing by it.”
Amsden said she’d warned her son that his affiliation with the group would lead to trouble.
“I’ve been warning him for years now that it’s not gonna take you in a good place,” Amsden said, “and it could ultimately get you in so much trouble that you’re in jail and you’re not seeing your sons and not spending time with them, and you’re gonna lose them. He always just brushed that aside and dismisses it.”
I just can’t believe that he believes all this ridiculous conspiracy crapKaren Amsden
Amsden made headlines Monday for kicking Boyce out of the house. Boyce is 27 years old and living in her basement, and, according to Amsden, will leave when he can afford it. Amsden spoke about the moment she made the decision that he had to go.
“I felt like he was even more entrenched in it,” Amsden said. “So that’s when I said, ‘You need to — I can’t — we can’t do this. You can’t live at my house and be doing this kind of stuff and putting this kind of hate out into the world, and putting yourself in danger.”
Amsden said that her son buys into hateful right-wing conspiracies, like that members of the LGBTQ community are trying to “groom” children. Amsden finds these beliefs sickening.
“I just can’t believe that he believes all this ridiculous conspiracy crap and wants to blame people for all these things, and hates groups of people,” Amsden said. “That’s not who I am, and it makes me sick to listen to it and sicker to know that this is coming from my son, who somewhere inside has a loving, loving heart.”
Anderson Cooper 360 airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on CNN.
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