teachers, the school counselor, i mean, we have situations where multiple kids are reporting a problem. and adults are saying the same thing that my mother heard in 1978. we can t do anything until he kills someone. that should not be the case. how did you find out that jim had actually killed someone? my father had called and said that he was a suspect in, i think, three murders. it did not surprise me. i knew he did it. before he killed those people, i felt a pure, unconditional love. now it s hard to feel and find that love under the grief i feel for his victims. as a little girl just 8 years old, jen was blind-sided by the father she thought she knew. it completely changed who i
existence, and he was going to come save me. and you still loved him? i still loved him. yeah. so, jen, where are we going now? we re headed to my old elementary school. this is where i was a fourth grader when my mother came and told me about his arrest and crimes. when was the last time you were here? 35 years. i have just avoided coming over here because it is completely intertwined in the worst day of my life. how does it feel to be here right now? i don t know. it s strange.
beliefs matter and understanding them matter. ladies and gentlemen, here s zach ibrahim. this is model united nations. thousands of high school students from all over the world have gathered here to learn how to become future leaders and now zach has their full attention. i was 7 years old when my father went to prison and there s not a day that goes by that i don t wish he had chosen a peaceful path. instead, he exposed me from a very young age to the intolerance and radical nature of extremism. yet i stand before you all today with this simple message. that no matter the level of violence you ve been exposed to, it doesn t have to define your character. in all of us is the ability to change our paths. jen and zach s stories are
you want it touched up a little bit? go ahead and look at me. this is jen carson. at 43 years old, jen has returned home to care for her mother, with whom she shares a close bond and a dark history. recently i was helping clean out my mom s house. and i found a bunch of girl scout patches. i also found some pictures. jen s childhood started off like many others, with a mom and dad who loved her. those were my parents, jim and lynn, and that s me. my mom was teaching and my father was staying home with me. and there s your dad doing your hair. yeah, i remember him doing my hair every morning. there would be braids and pigtails and he d brush my hair. how would you describe your relationship with your dad as a kid? in those early years, we had
very, very different but strangely enough, they are very similar. they are both very protective of their mothers and they re both very passionate about their mission. in many ways, their childhoods and adult lives have been defined by what their fathers have done but they have chosen to spread messages of life and not death. being a child of a killer is a silent burden but jen and zach are no longer hiding. in the past i was trying to atone for my father s crimes and now i know i cannot bring back his victims. i can t pay this debt. it is not my debt. of course. thank you. there are people out there who would not listen to me if it weren t for the fact that my father committed horrible crimes. as the son of an extremist, i have the insight and the