ORANGE PARK, Fla. — A tattoo artist in Orange Park calls himself a former “skinhead.” Trevor Thompson said that when he became a father he knew he needed to change.
- Trevor Thompson, a former skinhead, is offering free cover ups for anyone who wants to get rid of their racist or hateful tattoos.
- We got to witness him cover up a Neo-Nazi tattoo from his latest client, Chad Green.
- Chad Green tells us he got it with his friends when he was 15-years-old.
- According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate groups in Florida are on the rise. In 2017, they tracked 66 hate groups. In 2018, it climbed to 75.
- Here is a link to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate map: https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map
Thompson is hoping to play a small role in reversing this trend.
“This is my way of working off a debt between me and the world,” explains Thompson, a tattoo artist at Fantasy Tattoo and Piercing Shop.
Thompson is hoping to right a wrong and help others do the same.
He’s using his skill as a tattoo artist to do that by covering up as many hateful tattoos as he can.
See Thompson used to promote hateful and racist symbols and slurs. While he was behind bars, he joined the Skinheads.
“At the time when I was promoting these sorts of things, I thought this was cool, it showed toughness. But, really it’s just a really big pointed middle finger at people of different races and backgrounds,” explains Thompson.
He says, “I began doing this just a couple days ago. I think this is number 5.”
After becoming a father, he knew he needed to reverse his course.
“I just had the signs and symbols of it all over my body and I knew it was time for change.”
And he’s hoping to put some good in the world by helping people like his client, Chad Green, cover up the same tattoos Thompson used to have on his body.
“To be throwing that in someone’s face is just beyond disrespectful and the more conscious I became of that, the more compelled I felt to do something about it,” explains Thompson.
And he’s reminding others to consider the same.
“Life is too short to spend yours going around hurting people.”
In Florida alone, the FBI recorded 145 hate crimes in 2017, which is nearly 50 more than in 2016.
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