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>> what a contrast that would be. between donald trump and beto o'rourke. it would be incredible. >> history calls for us to come together. to show ourselves, our fellow americans the generations that follow. what we're made of and what we can do. the only way to get it done is get it done together. thank you for having me out here. this is an msnbc special series. 30 years ago, i embraced hate and perpetrated violence. but when i finally wanted to leave america's white power movement, there was nobody willing to help a confused nazi skinhead like me. >> another 15 seconds. >> today, i'm the guy i needed back then. i help people break their hate, atone for their wrongs and start over again with a clean slate. >> if you are tough enough to put it on, you have to be tough
color skin than you. >> reporter: that's when he bumped into a man that made an offer that would change his life. >> he invited me and my fiancee to go to church. i was like, well, it's worth a shot. >> reporter: that man, was a black pastor. >> so you've got a 70-person congregation now. they're all black and just three white people, including you. >> yes, ma'am. he called me up and asked me to share my testimony. i said i was a grand dragon of the kkk and their jaws about hit the floor. but after the service, they were all coming up and hugging me, shaking my hand. >> when we make it to heaven, heaven is not just going to be one race, there's going to be all kinds of races up there. >> reporter: ken knew that he wanted to stay out of the white nationalist movement, which is why he reached out to someone who would understand. >> hey, what up, ken, it's arno. >> reporter: he is a recovered nazi skinhead. >> all of my swastikas have been recovered. >> reporter: he basically runs an underground railroad for men like ken trying to escape hate
>> and when he took off his shirt, he had some of the most intense nazi skinhead, white power tattoos that i've ever seen on an inmate. and what's important to understand about tattoos like the ones that shawn had is that you don't get to just put those on your body. you have to do what the inmates call earn your ink. and he had gotten those tattoos because in his past, shawn had done some pretty terrible things. >> first political tattoo i earned was my white pride across my shoulder blades. i got that for smashing a guy and beat him up pretty bad and you can get a plain swastika or a black swastika or what is referred to as a blood swastika which is about as high a level of tattoo you can get, which is what's on my back. >> what do you do to get that? >> shed the blood of another race. >> the murder that landed gaines in the maricopa county jail,
my lifestyle was full of hate and violence. >> so with all of that hype, i was expecting shawn gaines to be a very intimidating character, but when i first met him, he wasn't. he looked a little bit more like a benign, pudgy teddy bear, and he was nice. >> i've taken up drawing. i can't quite say i'm an artist but i like to draw a lot and three times a year i draw a large stack of cards, and i donate them to the children's hospital. >> but gaines didn't become a leader in the skinheads by being nice. >> i was power hungry. i got caught up in the hype of telling a bunch of other grown-ass men what to do. all the girls flocked to that scene. it's a nonstop party and it's like you can do no wrong. you talk a bunch of [ bleep ]. beat people up. you cause hate and discontent. that's how i made my rise to power in the skinhead movement. >> and when he took off his shirt, he had some of the most intense nazi skinhead, white power tattoos that i've ever
shirt, he had some of the most intense nazi skinhead, white power tattoos that i've ever seen on an inmate. and what's important to understand about tattoos like the ones that shawn had is that you don't get to just put those on your body. you have to do what the inmates call earn your ink. and he had gotten those tattoos because in his past, shawn had done some pretty terrible things. >> first political tattoo i earned was my white pride across my shoulder blades. i got that for smashing a guy and beat him up pretty bad and you can get a plain swastika or a black swastika or what is referred to as a blood swastika which is about as high a level of tattoo you can get, which is what's on my back. >> what do you do to get that? >> shed the blood of another race. >> the murder that landed gaines in the maricopa county jail, however, was not racially motivated.
shirt, he had some of the most intense nazi skinhead, white power tattoos that i've ever seen on an inmate. and what's important to understand about tattoos like the ones that shawn had is that you don't get to just put those on your body. you have to do what the inmates call earn your ink. and he had gotten those tattoos because in his past, shawn had done some pretty terrible things. >> first political tattoo i earned was my white pride across my shoulder blades. i got that for smashing a guy and beat him up pretty bad and you can get a plain swastika or a black swastika or what is referred to as a blood swastika which is about as high a level of tattoo you can get, which is what's on my back. >> what do you do to get that? >> shed the blood of another race. >> the murder that landed gaines in the maricopa county jail, however, was not racially motivated.
grown-ass men what to do. all the girls flocked to that scene. it's a nonstop party and it's like you can do no wrong. you talk a bunch of [ bleep ]. beat people up. you cause hate and discontent. that's how i made my rise to power in the skinhead movement. >> and when he took off his shirt, he had some of the most intense nazi skinhead, white power tattoos that i've ever seen on an inmate. and what's important to understand about tattoos like the ones that shawn had is that you don't get to just put those on your body. you have to do what the inmates call earn your ink. and he had gotten those tattoos because in his past, shawn had done some pretty terrible things. >> first political tattoo i earned was my white pride across my shoulder blades. i got that for smashing a guy and beat him up pretty bad and you can get a plain swastika or a black swastika or what is referred to as a blood swastika which is about as high a level of tattoo you can get, which is what's on my back. >> what do you do to get that? >> shed the blood of another
beat people up. you cause hate and discontent. that's how i made my rise to power in the skinhead movement. >> and when he took off his shirt, he had some of the most intense nazi skinhead, white power tattoos that i've ever seen on an inmate. and what's important to understand about tattoos like the ones that shawn had is that you don't get to just put those on your body. you have to do what the inmates call earn your ink. and he had gotten those tattoos because in his past, shawn had done some pretty terrible things. >> first political tattoo i earned was my white pride across my shoulder blades. i got that for smashing a guy and beat him up pretty bad and you can get a plain swastika or a black swastika or what is referred to as a blood swastika which is about as high a level of tattoo you can get, which is what's on my back. >> what do you do to get that?
shirt, he had some of the most intense nazi skinhead, white power tattoos that i've ever seen on an inmate. and what's important to understand about tattoos like the ones that shawn had is that you don't get to just put those on your body. you have to do what the inmates call earn your ink. and he had gotten those tattoos because in his past, shawn had done some pretty terrible things. >> first political tattoo i earned was my white pride across my shoulder blades. i got that for smashing a guy and beat him up pretty bad and you can get a plain swastika or a black swastika or what is referred to as a blood swastika which is about as high a level of tattoo you can get, which is what's on my back. >> what do you do to get that? >> shed the blood of another race. >> the murder that landed gaines in the maricopa county jail, however, was not racially motivated.
>> what do you think now of all these tattoos on your face? >> they drive me nuts. it's just a bad reminder of a part of my life that i left behind. >> bryon widner grew up in albuquerque, new mexico. >> when i was about 3 years old, i moved in with my grandparents along with my little sister. my grandmother was a severe alcoholic. i was told that i was pretty well worthless. i wouldn't ever amount to anything. this or that. by the age of 13, 14, i just started running away all the time. i became a chronic runaway at that point. just started living on the streets. >> at the age of 18, bryon joined his first white power skinhead group. the soldiers of the new reich. >> when i was a teenager, i didn't have any family. i had my friends. that's all i had. and basically my crews were my family. statistically speaking, gang members don't join gangs because it's cool.