Reformed skinhead endures agony to remove tattoos
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Photos: Reformed skinhead removes tattoos
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Bryon Widner, left, and his family pray before their dinner at their home, Aug. 1. For 16 years, Widner was a glowering, swaggering, menacing vessel of savagery - an "enforcer" for some of America’s most notorious and violent racist skinhead groups. After getting married in 2006 to Julie Larsen, the couple, former pillars of the white power movement (she as a member of the National Alliance, he a founder of the Vinlanders gang of skinheads) had worked hard to put their racist past behind them. They had settled down and had a baby; her younger children had embraced him as a father. (Jae C. Hong / AP) Back to slideshow navigation -
Bryon Widner show the extensive tattoos on his arms. During his years as a skinhead, he had symbols of racist violence tattooed on his face. (Jae C. Hong / AP) Back to slideshow navigation -
Bryon Widner holds a photo at his home of him and his wife Julie taken before his facial tattoos were removed. Though his beliefs had changed, leaving the old life would not be easy when it was all he had known - and when his face remained a billboard of hate. He was shunned on job sites, stores and restaurants. (Jae C. Hong / AP) Back to slideshow navigation -
This combination of eight photos shows the progress of tattoo removal treatments for Bryon Widner. He underwent 25 painful surgeries over the course of 16 months, on his face, neck and hands. (Duke Tribble / AP) Back to slideshow navigation
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Bryon and Julie Widner are applauded in Pasadena, Calif., after the screening of "Erasing Hate," a documentary film featuring their family. (Jae C. Hong / AP) Back to slideshow navigation
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Bryon Widner hugs his 4-year-old son, Tyrson, at their home. Widner and his family are rebuilding their lives in an undisclosed location. (Jae C. Hong / AP) Back to slideshow navigation
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Bryon Widner at his home following his tattto removal surgeries. He suffers migraines and other ills as a result of the extensive and painful surgeries to remove racist tattoos. But, he says, "it's a small price to pay for being human again." (Jae C. Hong / AP) Back to slideshow navigation
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