How a tattoo artist got involved in a Nazi symbol cover-up in the Maine Senate race

Graham Platner was looking for a cover-up Nearly years ago the Maine Democrat drunkenly selected a skull and crossbones design while out on leave with his fellow Marines in Croatia It wasn t until several weeks into his campaign for a key U S Senate seat that Platner says he discovered that the design was recognized as a Nazi symbol Rather than wait through multiple sessions of laser removal Platner called a friend to help him get rid of it It was a phone call like Hey I have a tattoo I revealed out it s something I don t want can you help me cover it up Mischa Ostberg an artist based in Ellsworth Maine narrated The Associated Press in an interview Ostberg a self-proclaimed baby tattooer who has been licensed to ink for just two years was eager to help For Ostberg the request wasn t abnormal covering up a design is a common practice in the tattoo world and Platner s willingness to take action when learning about the image s connection to Nazis was reflective of the friend they had known for years It also solidified why Ostberg supported Platner s campaign saying his past mistake reflects that he s a regular person like all of us and hasn t been perfectly vetted by Democratic leaders Platner has faced increased scrutiny surrounding now-deleted posts he made on Reddit where he dismissed military sexual assaults questioned Black patrons gratuity habits and criticized police officers and rural Americans Other posts proved Platner using homophobic slurs and making anti-LGBTQ jokes between and Yet Platner maintains he had never been questioned about the tattoo s connections to Nazi symbols in the years he has had it He mentioned that after serving three tours as a Marine he later went to enlist in the Army which requires clearing an examination for tattoos of hate symbols We all make mistakes and we don t have teams to cover it up for us Ostberg revealed Finding a design was incredibly tricky Ostberg declared The left side of Platner s chest is filled with lots of black ink Ostberg sketched out a design using a Sharpie It took several hours to finish resulting in a Celtic knot now covering the majority of the skull and crossbones with a dog jumping out on top of the image Ostberg mentioned they were inspired by Platner s Scottish heritage and love of his two dogs Yet Ostberg acknowledged that the response to the design has not been kind A great number of have ridiculed the newly covered design while others have questioned whether Platner really covered the symbol up I know a lot of people have noted particular honestly pretty brutal stuff I m trying not to look at it too much because it just really hurts the ego and the creative part of you Ostberg revealed But I tried I truly put in a lot of time and effort even if other people can t see it I tried to make it personable to the person I know Platner is running to flip a U S Senate seat long held by Republican Susan Collins As a first-time candidate he must first survive the state s Democratic primary which includes Gov Janet Mills who has the backing of Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer and prominent left-leaning political groups I didn t really want necessarily so a great number of people to be talking about this Ostberg disclosed of the tattoo The significant thing is that people are talking about this movement Source