Alleged attacker 'sorry,' Wiesel skeptical

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A man accused of manhandling Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in San Francisco apologized in court but the Nobel Peace Prize winner wasn't buying it.

Eric Hunt, 23, is an alleged Holocaust denier, the San Francisco Chronicle said. He allegedly traveled from New Jersey to confront Wiesel in a hotel.

"I'm terribly sorry about what happened,” Hunt blurted out while the 78-year-old Wiesel was testifying Monday.

Outside the court, Wiesel said, “I expected it (the apology). I'm a novelist. I imagine situations -- this is something a character would do. It's clever, very clever."

Wiesel testified Hunt grabbed him by the arm in a hotel elevator and told him, "You must come with me," the Chronicle reported. "You must come to my room."

As Wiesel struggled to get free himself, Hunt allegedly said, “You are afraid of the truth."

After someone identifying himself as Hunt posted an account of the incident on an anti-Semitic Web site, he was arrested. New York police reported Hunt said he was trying to get Wiesel confess the Holocaust never happened.

Hunt is facing six felonies, including attempted kidnapping, battery and stalking.