Tattoo removal requests surge in wake of George Floyd’s death, and artist offering free removals is overwhelmed

Tattoo artist Alexander Lawrence erases offensive skin art free of charge. ‘These people, they’re stuck looking at their bad decisions every day,’ he says

Client Dylan Graves has a Nazi skull tattoo turned into face of the Grim Reaper. It’s a service to humanity, says a dermatologist who does laser tattoo removal

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Tattoo artist Alexander Lawrence (right) covers a tattoo that contained the image of a swastika on the arm of Dylan Graves in Bellows Falls in the US state of Vermont. Photo: AP

Published: 3:45pm, 5 Jul 2020Updated: 5:33pm, 7 Jul 2020

A tattoo artist in the US state of Vermont who for years has offered free removal or covering of hateful skin art such as swastikas, SS lightning bolts or the words “white power” says he has seen an uptick in business following George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Alexander Lawrence, who runs Mountainside Tattoo from a storefront in the village of Bellows Falls, says he has always offered to remove hateful images or cover scars free of charge. But following the death in May of Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American, which sparked global protests against police brutality and revived the Black Lives Matter movement, Lawrence says he has been getting so many requests he is looking for an office manager to schedule his appointments.

“I think they were out there, but it wasn’t in the limelight until things started happening and people are, like, ‘Oh, man I have this old tattoo. I’m not like that any more and I don’t want people to think that I am,’” Lawrence said.

Last month Dylan Graves, 28, visited Lawrence’s shop to cover a swastika tattoo superimposed over a grinning skull wearing a World War II German army helmet he had inked on the inside of his upper left arm a decade ago.

Graves said his swastika tattoo hasn’t drawn a lot of attention because it’s hidden, but he was still eager to get rid of it. Photo: AP

When asked why he got the tattoo, Graves answered: “Stupidity, partying when I was younger. Really, that’s it. Just being dumb.”