THE DRIVER [WHO killed a counter-demonstrator] at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville was from Ohio. I kept thinking “This is the picture people are going to have of people from my area.” I offered to do 10 racist [tattoo] cover-ups for free. We had a large outpouring, and we haven’t stopped. We’ve done hundreds in the past six years.

All kinds of people have approached us: reformed prison inmates, Aryan Brotherhood — dudes and women alike — who got prison racial gang tattoos, almost as a means of survival, and now they’re out; ex-Klan members, ex-white nationalists, and militia party members; people with human trafficking tattoos [or] self-harm scars.

I’m not here to judge them, and I’m not the end of the journey. Human growth isn’t linear. When you see a grown man who was once filled with hate, self-hatred, depression, and anxiety look in the mirror and cry, and part of that is now gone — and you were in the process — it’s awesome. It’s better than anything.

We’re finding people that have gotten [their first racist tattoos] since we started our project. That hurts a little more for some reason. Sometimes you don’t have to look to Washington, D.C., and everything that’s going on there. Start small, in your circle, with the people you care about, and do the hard work and hard conversations ... do it from a place of love.

Our clients still deal with a lot of battles. It’s not as simple as getting a cover-up and things magically get better. There’s still a lot of healing to be done. [Many] don’t have access to mental health or drug or alcohol counseling. For me and our shop, it’s important for people to know consistently that we’re here. They’re loved. We don’t expect any person to be perfect.