SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News)- Curtis Allgier wears the symbols of white supremacy on his face but he told a prison Board of Pardons that he did not belong to the Aryan Empire Warriors or any other prison gang despite what the tattoos say on his body.
"I am an Aryan, I'm of Aryan descent, that's not a gang, that's a culture," said Curtis Allgier during his last meeting with the Utah Board of Pardons on April 6, 2006.
Allgier got busted for getting tattoos on his face last year and had to spend time in the Utah State Prison isolation area after a conviction on conspiracy charges. Getting a tattoo is against the rules in prison, but the inmates do it for protection and intimidation. The tattoo on the top of Allgier's forehead says "Property of Jolene," an apparent romantic reference to his wife Jolene Allgier. But the other tattoos he wears reflect an ideology of hatred espoused by white supremacy groups.
Allgier told the parole judge that he got his first tattoo at age 13. A mug shot taken in 2001 shows Allgier without any tattoos on his face, but life behind bars brought more symbols of his Aryan beliefs.
The skin head words and the swastika above his eyes and other neo-nazi symbols on his cheeks have a direct connection to white supremacy and prison gangs. Allgier has a triangle shaped symbol called a Valknot on his left cheek, another supremacy symbol according to the web site created by the Anti-Defamation League.
The site shows dozens of tattoo symbols used in prison. By clicking on the symbol you can read the meaning and history of the tattoo. The Valknot refers to a willingness to die for Odin the Norse God.
During the prison hearing Allgier claimed the A.E.W tattoo on his face does not represent membership in a California prison gang called Aryan Empire Warriors, but "Allgier Eternally White".
He said he had the face of Adolph Hitler tattooed on his chest because he admires Hitler's intellect and leadership. "I am a German, my family is German," he said. "Hitler was one of the smartest men to walk the face of the earth. People who actually study him know he was a very intelligent man."
For more information on the meanings of prison tattoos, visit
www.adl.org/hate_symbols/prison_tattoos.asp.
