As Tom Leyden reaches out his right hand to introduce himself, a faded tattoo becomes visible.
A cross is branded between his index finger and his thumb, but it does not symbolize Leyden's religion. When he was a member of the Hammer Skin Nation, an international racist skinhead movement, the tattoo served as a method of recognition between fellow members.
The tattoos covering Leyden's entire body-which include the cross, swastikas and other symbols of "Aryan Pride" now hidden by his long sleeves-represent the movement in which he was deeply involved since high school. Until a year and a half ago, Leyden was a powerful member of the Hammer Skin Nation, controlling a substantial region known as the "Inland Empire" outside of Los Angeles, Calif. Upon seeing his racism instilled in his children, however, Leyden did a 180-degree turnaround: He spoke Monday night at Griffith Auditorium as a representative of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization.
"The reason I talk is because if I didn't I would be just as much to blame," Leyden said to the crowd of approximately 250 people.
Leyden first joined the skinhead movement when he became involved in the punk-rock scene as a teenager.
"White-power rock is the equivalent of gangster rap," he explained. "Music is one of the most powerful tools on the face of the planet. After my parents got divorced, I hung out with the movement more. We embraced anarchy and violence-might makes right."
Once attached to the skinhead movement, Leyden joined the U.S. Marines. Leyden described the military as a breeding ground for racism because it gives soldiers leadership, organizational and recruiting skills that serve racist agendas well. And despite the fact that he was very visibly racist, the military did nothing to try to reshape his beliefs.
"You can be in the military and join any hate group as long as you are 'inactive,'" Leyden said. "I had a swastika on my locker, I had tattoos, I had a copy of 'Mein Kampf.' They were fully aware of my racist beliefs, but you will not find anything in my file about being a racist."
Using the recruiting skills he learned in the Marines, Leyden became a racist recruiter for the skinhead movement.
"I rebuilt [my recruits] the way I wanted to," Leyden said. "Instead of soldiers, I was building white-supremacist skinheads. They are raising an army of domestic military racists. Groups are sending their men into the military to train them for free."
Eventually Leyden worked his way up the ranks of the Hammer Skin Nation, controlling a large region outside of Los Angeles. His arrests were so numerous, he said, that the people at the county jail knew him "on a first-name basis." A witness and participant in many violent acts, Leyden admits to shooting at and stabbing members of other gangs, with his targets ranging from blacks, Asians and Hispanics to non-racist skinheads.
After realizing that his children were growing up racist, however, Leyden began to re-evaluate his life.
"My kids were the biggest eye-opener for me," Leyden said. "For the first time, they held a mirror up to my face. But they would be 10 times tougher, meaner and more loyal because they would be second generation neo-Nazi skinheads.
"My older son will still insist on being called 'Aryan,' not 'white,'" he continued. "At three years old, we taught him that white people were stupid, but Aryans were smart."
Holocaust Education Committee co-chair Victoria Wigodzky said she was pleased with both the large turnout, as well as Leyden's dynamic presentation.
"He was very powerful," she said. "I hope it brought a different perspective to some people."
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