By Debbie Schlussel

My heart goes out not only to the victims of the Aurora, Colorado shooting, but also to the parents of the shooter, James Egan Holmes. I doubt they could possibly have known their son would do this (although his mother did tell reporters and authorities, “you have the right person . . . I need to call the police,” which indicates they knew something was wrong with their son before the tragedy he perpetrated) and I can’t imagine what it must be like to be in their position. That said, they are lying to the public about their level of cooperation with police. And that’s to be condemned.

Over the weekend, the Holmes family released this statement:

Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the family and friends of those involved. We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time. Our family is cooperating with authorities in San Diego, California, and Aurora, Colorado. We are still trying to process this information and we appreciate that people will respect our privacy.

Note the part about “cooperating.” But, if several mainstream media outlets’ reports are to be believed, the Holmes parents are not cooperating with authorities.

Both ABC News and NBC News reported that the Holmes parents–Mr. and Mrs. Robert Holmes who are now in Colorado–are refusing to cooperate with authorities and police. While they may have somewhat of a a legal right not to cooperate, that could also be a crime–“obstruction of justice.” I understand that they may not want to help prosecute their son. But he’s going to go to prison, at least for his entire life. And he might get the death penalty. Any non-cooperation from them isn’t going to stop that. There is enough evidence. Mountains of it.

So, if they are not cooperating with authorities–as the media reports claim they are not, why lie about it?

Again, I cannot imagine the stress and permanent emotional toil they must be experiencing, knowing that their son did this. Still, he did do it. And it doesn’t justify pretending to help the investigation, when you are actually hindering it.