Seven Days
Published on: 12/21/2005
T.J. Leyden showed some disturbing slides during his energetic, hour-and-a-half presentation last week at St. Michael’s College: shots of his 29 swastika tattoos, ads for skinhead gear from white-pride retailer Aryan Wear and photos of the gutted Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma — undeniable proof that racist groups are deadly.
But the most chilling image was of Leyden’s smiling, pregnant ex-wife, standing beside a Confederate battle flag in a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Aryan Baby.” An arrow points to her swollen belly below.
It was that baby that ultimately brought about Leyden’s transformation, from hardcore Neo-Nazi to freelance anti-racist consultant. When the boy was 3, he complained to his dad about the “niggers” on TV. Leyden — a bearded bruiser-type who became a teenage skinhead and spent 15 years in what he calls “a world of hate” — was unsettled by his son’s remark. He soon renounced his beliefs.
His conversion came at a price — he divorced his defiantly racist wife, who still has custody of two of his sons. His friends abandoned him. He went to work for the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Justice, speaking to audiences about white supremacists.