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Ex-skinhead makes peace with past
By Christopher Burbach


He used to teach hate. Now he preaches peace.

Frank Meeink was a notoriously violent white supremacist recruiter from Philadelphia, a leader in neo-Nazi skinhead groups, until he went to prison at age 17 for a kidnapping and beating in the early 1990s.

In prison, he played football and formed friendships with Hispanic and African-American men.

Afterward, Meeink became friends with a Jewish antiques dealer who employed him and a Jewish dermatologist who removed a swastika tattoo from Meeink's neck.


Meeink resolved to give up the hate. For more than a decade, he has spoken to student groups across the country with the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism, bigotry and discrimination.


Meeink, now 35 and a resident of the Des Moines area, is scheduled to make four appearances in Omaha this week.

He is to speak, answer questions and sign copies of his new book, “Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: The Frank Meeink Story,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Bookworm bookstore, 8702 Pacific St.

He also will speak at two high schools and to another audience of youths. Alan Potash, regional director in Omaha of the ADL, asked that those locations not be made public beforehand out of concern that white supremacists might try to disrupt them.

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