Maine
How a tattoo artist got involved in a Nazi symbol cover-up in the State Senate race
Graham Platner was looking for a cover-up.
Nearly 20 years ago, the Maine Democrat drunkenly selected a skull and crossbones design while out on leave with his fellow Marines in Croatia. It wasn’t until several weeks into his campaign for a key U.S. Senate seat that Platner says he discovered that the design was recognized as a Nazi symbol.
Rather than wait through multiple sessions of laser removal, Platner called a friend to help him get rid of it.
“It was a phone call like: ‘Hey, I have a tattoo. I found out it’s something I don’t want, can you help me cover it up?’” Mischa Ostberg, an artist based in Ellsworth, Maine, told The Associated Press in an interview.
Ostberg, a self-proclaimed “baby tattooer” who has been licensed to ink for just two years, was eager to help. For Ostberg, the request wasn’t abnormal — covering up a design is a common practice in the tattoo world — and Platner’s willingness to take action when learning about the image’s connection to Nazis was reflective of the friend Ostberg had known for years.
It also solidified why Ostberg supported Platner’s campaign, saying his past mistake reflects that “he’s a regular person like all of us” and hasn’t been perfectly vetted by Democratic leaders.
Platner has faced increased scrutiny surrounding now-deleted posts he made on Reddit where he dismissed military sexual assaults, questioned Black patrons’ gratuity habits and criticized police officers and rural Americans.
Other posts showed Platner using homophobic slurs and making anti-LGBTQ+ jokes between 2018 and 2021.
Yet Platner maintains he had never been questioned about the tattoo’s connections to Nazi symbols in the 20 years he has had it. He said that after serving three tours as a Marine, he later went to enlist in the Army, which requires clearing an examination for tattoos of hate symbols.
Finding a design was incredibly tricky, Ostberg said. The left side of Platner’s chest is filled with lots of black ink. Ostberg sketched out a design using a Sharpie.
It took several hours to finish, resulting in a Celtic knot now covering the majority of the skull and crossbones with a dog jumping out on top of the image. Ostberg said they were inspired by Platner’s Scottish heritage and love of his two dogs.
Yet Ostberg acknowledged that the response to the design has not been kind. Many have ridiculed the newly covered design, while others have questioned whether Platner really covered the symbol up.
Platner is running to flip a U.S. Senate seat long held by Republican Susan Collins. As a first-time candidate, he must first survive the state’s Democratic primary, which includes Gov. Janet Mills, who has the backing of Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer and prominent left-leaning political groups.
Wisconsin
Man accused of setting fire to congressman’s office pleads no contest to arson
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of trying to burn down a congressman’s office earlier this year because he was upset over the federal TikTok ban has pleaded no contest to felony arson.
Caiden Stachowicz, 20, of Menasha, entered the plea Monday in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court, online court records showed. Defendants who plead no contest have decided they will no longer fight the charges against them but they do not admit guilt.
District Attorney Eric Toney agreed to drop burglary and property damage charges in exchange for the plea. Stachowicz faces up to 40 years in the state prison system when he’s sentenced March 5. Email and voicemail messages were left for his attorney, listed in the online records as Timothy Edward Hogan.
According to a criminal complaint, a police officer responded to a fire outside Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman’s Fond du Lac office around 1 a.m. on Jan. 19 and saw Stachowicz standing nearby.
Stachowicz told the officer that he started the fire because he doesn’t like Grothman, according to the complaint. He said that he initially planned to break into the office and start the fire inside but he couldn’t break the window.
He then poured gas on an electrical box in the back of the building and around the front of the building, lit a match and watched it burn, according to the complaint.
He said he wanted to burn down the office because the U.S. government was shutting down TikTok in violation of his constitutional rights and peace was no longer an option. He noted that Grothman voted for the shutdown but that he didn’t want to hurt anyone or harm Grothman himself.
Grothman voted for a bill in April 2024 that mandated TikTok’s China-based company, ByteDance, sell its U.S. operation. The deadline was Jan. 19, but President Donald Trump has issued multiple executive orders prolonging it.
His administration has been negotiating with Chinese officials to keep the popular social media app running in the U.S., but no deal has been announced.
Texas
Officials call for investigation of university over financial mismanagement
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate Texas Southern University on Monday after a new state audit found evidence of poor bookkeeping and financial mismanagement.
Patrick said he will discuss with Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows a freeze on TSU’s state funding. It’s unclear if and when the freeze would go into effect and what impact it would have on TSU, one of the largest historically Black universities in the country.
In a letter to Patrick’s office and other members of the state Legislature’s Audit Committee, State Auditor Lisa Collier said university staff vacancies for “critical” financial responsibilities have contributed to delays in financial reporting, as well as poor asset oversight and weak contracting processes.
According to a preliminary report from Collier, more than 700 invoices totaling more than $280 million were tied to vendors whose contracts expired in the contract database. And more than 800 invoices worth nearly $160 million were dated before the purchase were officially requested or approved.
Collier also said the university submitted its financial reports to the comptroller’s office 10 months late for the 2023 fiscal year and four months late for the 2024 fiscal years.
In a statement, Texas Southern University said it was cooperating with the state auditor and that it had “enacted corrective measures” prior to the release of the report, including a new purchasing system.
How a tattoo artist got involved in a Nazi symbol cover-up in the State Senate race
Graham Platner was looking for a cover-up.
Nearly 20 years ago, the Maine Democrat drunkenly selected a skull and crossbones design while out on leave with his fellow Marines in Croatia. It wasn’t until several weeks into his campaign for a key U.S. Senate seat that Platner says he discovered that the design was recognized as a Nazi symbol.
Rather than wait through multiple sessions of laser removal, Platner called a friend to help him get rid of it.
“It was a phone call like: ‘Hey, I have a tattoo. I found out it’s something I don’t want, can you help me cover it up?’” Mischa Ostberg, an artist based in Ellsworth, Maine, told The Associated Press in an interview.
Ostberg, a self-proclaimed “baby tattooer” who has been licensed to ink for just two years, was eager to help. For Ostberg, the request wasn’t abnormal — covering up a design is a common practice in the tattoo world — and Platner’s willingness to take action when learning about the image’s connection to Nazis was reflective of the friend Ostberg had known for years.
It also solidified why Ostberg supported Platner’s campaign, saying his past mistake reflects that “he’s a regular person like all of us” and hasn’t been perfectly vetted by Democratic leaders.
Platner has faced increased scrutiny surrounding now-deleted posts he made on Reddit where he dismissed military sexual assaults, questioned Black patrons’ gratuity habits and criticized police officers and rural Americans.
Other posts showed Platner using homophobic slurs and making anti-LGBTQ+ jokes between 2018 and 2021.
Yet Platner maintains he had never been questioned about the tattoo’s connections to Nazi symbols in the 20 years he has had it. He said that after serving three tours as a Marine, he later went to enlist in the Army, which requires clearing an examination for tattoos of hate symbols.
Finding a design was incredibly tricky, Ostberg said. The left side of Platner’s chest is filled with lots of black ink. Ostberg sketched out a design using a Sharpie.
It took several hours to finish, resulting in a Celtic knot now covering the majority of the skull and crossbones with a dog jumping out on top of the image. Ostberg said they were inspired by Platner’s Scottish heritage and love of his two dogs.
Yet Ostberg acknowledged that the response to the design has not been kind. Many have ridiculed the newly covered design, while others have questioned whether Platner really covered the symbol up.
Platner is running to flip a U.S. Senate seat long held by Republican Susan Collins. As a first-time candidate, he must first survive the state’s Democratic primary, which includes Gov. Janet Mills, who has the backing of Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer and prominent left-leaning political groups.
Wisconsin
Man accused of setting fire to congressman’s office pleads no contest to arson
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of trying to burn down a congressman’s office earlier this year because he was upset over the federal TikTok ban has pleaded no contest to felony arson.
Caiden Stachowicz, 20, of Menasha, entered the plea Monday in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court, online court records showed. Defendants who plead no contest have decided they will no longer fight the charges against them but they do not admit guilt.
District Attorney Eric Toney agreed to drop burglary and property damage charges in exchange for the plea. Stachowicz faces up to 40 years in the state prison system when he’s sentenced March 5. Email and voicemail messages were left for his attorney, listed in the online records as Timothy Edward Hogan.
According to a criminal complaint, a police officer responded to a fire outside Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman’s Fond du Lac office around 1 a.m. on Jan. 19 and saw Stachowicz standing nearby.
Stachowicz told the officer that he started the fire because he doesn’t like Grothman, according to the complaint. He said that he initially planned to break into the office and start the fire inside but he couldn’t break the window.
He then poured gas on an electrical box in the back of the building and around the front of the building, lit a match and watched it burn, according to the complaint.
He said he wanted to burn down the office because the U.S. government was shutting down TikTok in violation of his constitutional rights and peace was no longer an option. He noted that Grothman voted for the shutdown but that he didn’t want to hurt anyone or harm Grothman himself.
Grothman voted for a bill in April 2024 that mandated TikTok’s China-based company, ByteDance, sell its U.S. operation. The deadline was Jan. 19, but President Donald Trump has issued multiple executive orders prolonging it.
His administration has been negotiating with Chinese officials to keep the popular social media app running in the U.S., but no deal has been announced.
Texas
Officials call for investigation of university over financial mismanagement
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate Texas Southern University on Monday after a new state audit found evidence of poor bookkeeping and financial mismanagement.
Patrick said he will discuss with Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows a freeze on TSU’s state funding. It’s unclear if and when the freeze would go into effect and what impact it would have on TSU, one of the largest historically Black universities in the country.
In a letter to Patrick’s office and other members of the state Legislature’s Audit Committee, State Auditor Lisa Collier said university staff vacancies for “critical” financial responsibilities have contributed to delays in financial reporting, as well as poor asset oversight and weak contracting processes.
According to a preliminary report from Collier, more than 700 invoices totaling more than $280 million were tied to vendors whose contracts expired in the contract database. And more than 800 invoices worth nearly $160 million were dated before the purchase were officially requested or approved.
Collier also said the university submitted its financial reports to the comptroller’s office 10 months late for the 2023 fiscal year and four months late for the 2024 fiscal years.
In a statement, Texas Southern University said it was cooperating with the state auditor and that it had “enacted corrective measures” prior to the release of the report, including a new purchasing system.
