A former white supremacist that now lives a life speaking against anti-Semitism, shared his story before congregants at a Lake Murray-area synagogue Friday evening.
Frank Meeink spoke Friday evening at Tifereth Israel Synagogue as part of the Synagogue's annual Scholar in Residence program.
Meeink's hour-long keynote titled, "My Story, My Way: How I Lived, Survived and Now Thrived," was centered around his early childhood life and upbringing in South Philadelphia, and his transition into and out of white supremacy.
When Meeink was just 13 years old, he shared that his family sent him to visit his then roughly 17-year-old cousin, who had at the time taken kin to the Neo-Nazi lifestyle.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
"So I kidnapped this guy on Christmas or Christmas Eve... and nobody would pay the ransom, so we had wound up just torturing him and then they let him go," Meeink shared.
After being let go, Meeink's victim then went to the police and reported the incident, before Meeink was arrested which led to his eventual prison sentence.
During Friday's presentation, Meeink recalled that while in prison he read the whole Book of Mormons.
Local
"I was going insane," he said, adding "Then I started reading the King James version of the Bible. In that, there was this great part in there where it says, 'If you want God to reveal himself to you, you have to fast, as a whole being part of a fasting.'"
That was when everything changed.
Following his release from prison, Meeink returned to South Philadelphia where he eventually became employed by a Jewish-owned business delivering furniture and refurbished antiques.
In 2020, Meeink testified as a congressional witness before the Committee on Oversight and Accountability on confronting violent white supremacy.
Born into the Catholic faith, Meeink is now a fully converted and practicing Jew.
Looking for ways to make a difference and further distance himself from his past actions, Meeink reached out to the Anti-Defamation League, at the recommendation of the FBI.
“Since his release from prison decades ago, he has worked directly with the FBI and the ADL," said Rabbi Matthew Marko. "The ADL strongly endorses him and even funded the removal of his hateful tattoos."
He now regularly lectures to students about racial diversity and acceptance, and in 2010 wrote a memoir about his past.
