SALT LAKE CITY (KSTU) – A Real Salt Lake fan was asked by security to leave the stadium because of his tattoo associated with the Nazi movement. It’s one of several tattoos the man says he’s now ashamed of and is working to have removed.
Jonathan Pangburn is working to turn his life around after crime in his past and a few stints in prison. He is in recovery and recently graduated from the Other Side Academy in Salt Lake City, which helps those with a history of addiction and criminal behavior.
“It teaches you how to love, gives you a life back, teaches you about friendship, accountability, humility,” Pangburn said.
Part of Pangburn’s past were identities he isn’t proud of anymore. He has tattoos of symbols associated with the Nazi movement and white supremacy.
“My tattoos affect me, and they offend me more than they offend anybody else today. I am filled with regret and shame every time I go into public,” he said.
Pangburn was at a Real Salt Lake soccer match Wednesday night when security asked him to leave the stadium because of one of those tattoos. The tattoo, which is on the side of Pangburn’s head, features the lightning bolt symbol of the SS, the military organization controlled by the Nazis.
A photographer at the match spotted the tattoo and posted a photo on social media. Within 10 minutes, Pangburn was removed from the stadium, due to the Real Salt Lake club’s zero tolerance policy regarding hate speech.
A lot of people were outraged by the sight of Pangburn’s tattoo, but the man says he doesn’t “come from a place of hate.”
“My intention is to not try to disperse any negativity or hatred in people. Really, I’m just trying to get out there, just be part of the community and spread my message of change. I know I dropped the ball. I could have covered up my tattoos and wore a hat,” Pangburn said.
Marc Levine, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, says hate speech and symbols – no matter how they were intended – have the power to hurt.
“Hate has no place in our sports stadiums,” Levine said. “This is a very haunting and scary thing for people here in the United States today. That hate has a very long shadow. We also know that hateful rhetoric often leads to hateful acts, so this can be a very scary thing for someone to see.”
Pangburn says he’s in the process of removing his tattoos, not just the one seen at the soccer game but other hate symbols, as well. He hopes his story inspires others to change.
“I know that if I can break away from a life of how I used to live with Nazism, skinhead philosophy – I know that my story can help other people break away from it, as well,” he said.
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