The parents said they watched Holder's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Parents blame Holder for son's death

The parents of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry are denouncing Attorney General Eric Holder as a liar, blaming him for their son’s death, and calling for him to step down.

In separate interviews with Fox News, Terry’s parents on Thursday took turns lashing out at Holder.


“I think they are liars and I would tell them that,” said Kent Terry, the father.”What would I say to Eric Holder? They would not be nice words.”

“If they never let the guns walk, maybe Brian would not have been out that day,” said Josephine, Terry’s mother. “I just can’t believe our own government came up with a program like this that [let] innocent people get killed.”

The two parents said they had watched Holder’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week. Asked then by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) if he wished to apologize to the family, Holder declined to do so, and instead expressed “regret,” something the family viewed as insufficient.

Terry’s mother said that she just broke down and cried, reported Fox. “It was so inhumane. An apology to anybody means at least they are trying to fix it. He didn’t,” she said.

“That shows what kind of a person he is,” Kent added. “To me, he is not much of a person.”

POLITICO reported Thursday that Holder sent a letter to the family saying he was sorry for the death of their son.

“I am sorry for the tragic loss of your son, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Brian was a hero who served his nation bravely and made the ultimate sacrifice,” writes Holder in a letter dated Wednesday. “I agree with you that the tactic of allowing guns to ‘walk,’ as was permitted in Operation Fast and Furious, is completely unacceptable.”

Both parents want Holder to resign, Fox reported.

“There are 115,000 employees in the Department of Justice,” Holder said during testimony earlier this week. “I cannot be expected to know the details of every operation on a day-to-day basis.”

“Holder says he has 115,000 employees. That is his job. If he can’t handle his job, he should get out of it,” the father told Fox in relation to that testimony.

Fox reported on-air Friday that the family will soon file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the government.

Terry was killed in Dec. 2010 near the Arizona-Mexico border. Two weapons at the crime-scene were later linked to the Justice Department’s Fast and Furious Operation, which attempted to trace guns to drug cartels but instead lost track of thousands of firearms, many of which crossed the border in to Mexico.

Holder is expected to appear before Congress again on Dec. 8, this time before the House Judiciary Committee.

CORRECTION - An earlier version of this story stated that the Terrys’ interview with Fox News was their first, but Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News conducted the first interview with the family which was aired on Tuesday and Wednesday.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Austin Wright @ 11/11/2011 04:27 PM CORRECTION - An earlier version of this story stated that the Terrys’ interview with Fox News was their first, but Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News conducted the first interview with the family which was aired on Tuesday and Wednesday.