Tattoo shops offer free Trump and Sanders ink ahead of primaries

Tattoo parlors in New England are inking Donald Trump and Bernard Sanders supporters for free if they’re willing to brand their bodies with the names, faces or slogans of either presidential hopeful ahead of the upcoming New Hampshire primaries.

After the owner of The Clay Dragon Tattoo Parlor in Seabrook, New Hampshire, announced last month that he was offering free tattoos of Mr. Trump for fans of the Republican Party front-runner, Aartistic Inc. in Winooski, Vermont, agreed to do the same with designs inspired by the Democratic hopeful.

Tyre Duvernay, the owner of Aartistic, originally said he would give out complimentary tattoos of Mr. Sanders’ face only to customers who who wanted to cover up Trump-related ink, but has since started offering his free designs to anyone who will show their support for the Democratic contender.

“We’re personally insulted by the whole free Donald Trump tattoo and I don’t want people to get the wrong idea only Donald Trump has followers that are that passionate,” he told a local ABC News affiliate last week.

Mr. Duvernay said his phone has been ringing nonstop since he announced the promotion last week, with customers from across the country booking appointments.

“We’ve done at least 30,” he told an ABC affiliate in New York Wednesday. “We’re getting five to 10 calls a day, and there are plenty more on the books.”

As of Thursday, the artist said his staffers had given out about 60 free tattoos of the senator between his Winooski shop and another in Montpelier, The Observer reported.

Across state lines in New Hampshire, however, the billionaire businessman is polling not too far behind Mr. Sanders — at least tattoo-wise.

Bob Holmes, the owner of Clay Dragon, told reporters this week that he has done about 27 designs involving the Trump campaign since he announced he would be inking customers for free late last month.

“Come in, pick your logo, pick his face, pick whatever you want that says ‘Trump.’ We’ll do it for free. 100 percent for free,” Mr. Holmes told ABC News this week.

Customers are welcome to tip the tattoo artists at Clay Dragon, but Mr. Holmes said his employees will be donating a percentage of any money earned with Trump tattoos to a charity that supports wounded veterans.

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Sanders are in New Hampshire this week ahead of the state’s first-in-the-nation primaries on Tuesday.

Tattoo shops offer free Trump and Sanders ink ahead of primaries

Melbourne tattoo shops firebombed as tensions between bikie gangs grow, police say

Several tattoo parlours have been firebombed in Victoria and police urged to exercise “extreme caution” as tensions escalate between the Rebels, Comancheros and Finks motorcycle gangs.

Taskforce Echo and regional detectives are investigating a series of fires in and around Melbourne which have known links to outlaw motorcycle gangs.

A number of businesses have been firebombed over the past fortnight.

Police said they were aware of escalating tensions between the three groups and had ordered an increase in monitoring of three groups.

“We have issued a reminder to our members to exercise caution when coming into contact with OMCG [outlaw motorcycle gang] members during the course of their duties,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

“As the investigations are active and ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The email distributed to all members of Victoria Police and seen by the ABC, advised all officers to exercise “extreme” caution following the fire bombings, and also referred to a serious assault.

“The fire-bombings and a serious assault indicate escalating tension between the Rebels and the Commanchero/Finks OMCGs,” the email read.

“All police officers should exercise extreme caution when patrolling near tattoo parlours, particularly those with known links to OMCGs.

“Police officers should also exercise caution in areas known to be frequented by OMCGs, especially club houses and entertainment precincts.”

Officers were also asked to consider calling for back up when intercepting vehicles associated with he gangs.

The Victorian Opposition accused the State Government of ignoring the signs of an emerging bikie war in Melbourne.

Shadow Attorney General John Pesutto said there has been evidence of increasing bikie activity for months.

“We haven’t heard anything from Daniel Andrews or his government on this – what they are doing to work with our law enforcement agencies to make sure they have all the resources they need and also to assure the community that the government is in control.”

Melbourne tattoo shops firebombed as tensions between bikie gangs grow, police say