Frank Meeink

Frank Meeink (born Francis Steven Bertone; May 7, 1975) is a former white supremacist skinhead gang member in the United States. After a three-year stint in prison, he left the racist skinhead movement and now lectures against it.

Born in South Philadelphia, Meeink lived a violent and unpleasant childhood with a lack of a structured family. In his early life, he had no relationship with his biological father and had an abusive stepfather. Meeink's mother abused drugs and alcohol. As a teenager, Meeink was constantly bullied and taunted at school because his peers considered him to be an outcast. At age thirteen, Meeink was out with his cousin when he discovered the Neo-Nazi Movement. At this point of his life, Meeink felt an atavistic pull toward violence, alcohol, and the notoriety offered by white supremacist gangs. At age fourteen, Meeink shaved his head, a symbol of commitment to the Neo-Nazi Movement. By the age of eighteen he was a well-respected Neo-Nazi leader and recruiter.

At 17, Meeink was arrested after he had nearly killed a man from a rival skinhead gang and additionally kidnapped another man. Meeink used a gun in the kidnapping, which led to his trial considering him as an adult. Meeink had recorded the attack on videotape. Meeink had been arrested before for smaller crimes, but for these crimes, however, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Frank Meeink served his prison term in a prison near Springfield, Illinois.

His prison sentence changed Meeink's life. He met people of many different ethnicities. Due to a shared interest in sports, Meeink became friends with many African American prisoners. In games like football and basketball, Meeink earned the respect of fellow African American inmates. Moreover, Meeink felt that the black inmates supported him more than did the skinheads in the prison.

After getting released from prison, Frank tried to return to his past life, but realized that during his time in prison he had learned that he did not have the same prejudices he had prior to prison.

The 1998 film, American History X, is loosely inspired by Meeink's life in many ways. The film's main character, Derek, played by Edward Norton, becomes a skinhead after his father is killed by black drug dealers and helps start a Neo-Nazi gang in Los Angeles. The character goes to prison for 3 years (like Meeink), for the murder of a black gang member. In prison, he too forms a bond with an African American inmate, and they share love of basketball, among other things. After he gets out of prison, he decides to leave the Nazi movement he helped form. Norton was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.

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