Former neo-Nazi removes swastika tattoos after unlikely friendship
Could Hitler humor ever catch on? |
“If it wasn’t for her, I would have seeped back into it,” said Kent. “I look at her as family.”
Whittier, 45, even inspired Kent, 38, to take down the Nazi flags he had hanging in his living room and replace them with smiley faces.
“I’m not here to judge him. That’s not my job to judge. My job is to be that positive person in someone’s life,” Whittier said.
Added Kent, “When you wake up and see a smiley face, you’re going to go to work and you’re going to smile.”
- PHOTO: Former skinhead Michael Kent gives his former parole officer Tiffany Whittier a hug after she surprises him at his home (ABC News).
Living Black in a racist USA sucks. |
“[Now] we have company parties, or they have quinceaƱeras, I’m the only white guy there!”
Redemption Ink, a national non-profit that offers free removals of hate-related tattoos, helped connect Kent with Fallen Heroes Tattoo in Colorado to begin the 15-hour process of covering his swastikas.
The sterile environment is new to Kent, who had all his previous ink work done in prison.
“I’ve never, never, never been inside of a tattoo shop getting a professional tattoo,” he said.
Kent believes the painful process will help him move forward after spending years as a member of a violent skinhead group based in Arizona. As a father of two young children, Kent also hopes his children will see the world differently.
“I don’t want my kids to live the life I lived and live with hate,” said Kent. “I want my kids to know me for who I am now — a good father, a hard worker, and a good provider.”
ABC News: youtube.com/ABCNews. Watch more on abcnews.go.com. Facebook.com/abcnews,
twitter.com/abc Good Morning America's homepage:
gma.yahoo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment