‘It gave me chills’: West Texas man gets tattoo to support Trump after assassination attempt

SAN ANGELO, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) – Many people across the country have shown their support for former President Donald Trump following the assassination attempt. For one man in West Texas, his support is something he’ll always remember — permanently etched onto his skin.

It was the shot heard around the world, paired with images for the history books, including one iconic photo of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

“I knew the magnitude of this event when I saw that image. It gave me chills,” San Angelo artist Gabriel Luckey said.

From Hulkamania to those wearing matching ear bandages at the RNC, support and inspiration have been on display, and back home in West Texas, it’s been no different.

“The people that motivate me might not motivate you, but that’s what makes us all unique, and so I just decided to add him to that leg. It was a monumental moment. He’s an icon, and you can’t take that away from him,” Luckey expressed.

Moments after reports confirmed Trump was hit by a bullet, Luckey quickly reached out to San Angelo tattoo artist Steven Guerra.

“He was like, come on, meet me here,” Luckey recalled.

While on the way to the tattoo shop, Luckey thought about a few images but kept returning to one.

“For some reason, that one kept sticking out to me, and I don’t know that that image had become what it is now. I just went with my gut,” Luckey shared.

As Guerra was preparing to ink this iconic image on Luckey, he was still trying to process what had happened to Trump.

“What’s going on in the world today? What could irate somebody so bad that they just want to take his head off like that? Come on, he’s not even the sitting president,” Guerra asked.

Luckey had something else in mind for Guerra besides getting the Trump image on his leg.

“He knew we were trying to be the first in the world, so he was hustling,” Luckey said.

“I felt a little sweat like, oh man, I got to come out correct on this one. There’s no margin for error,” Guerra recalled.

Courtesy of Rene Maldonado

After 45 minutes, Luckey and Guerra were finally ready to release the iconic tattooed image to the world. Luckey’s video on TikTok featuring the tattoo gained over 360,000 views and a mixed bag of comments.

“You know it’s people talking behind a keyboard. They know nothing about me or about my reasoning. I try not to read them, but I do read them. There’s tons of good ones, but it only takes one to hurt your feelings, so I’m trying to let it roll off my shoulder,” Luckey said.

Meanwhile, you can say Gabriel was lucky Steven Guerra was not only able to ink the tattoo but, for starters, said yes.

“I did see a good friend of ours do a similar tattoo, and he said that the guy had been running out of 3 or 4 shops and that they would not tattoo that image on him. It kind of saddened me, kind of like damn. The name for this person is that deep. I love my First Amendment, and I’m always going to use it. Hopefully, they don’t use the 2nd on me for using it,” Guerra shared.

For Luckey, the Trump tattoo is one thing, but regardless, we should keep the bigger picture in mind.

“It’s neither here nor there whether I’m Republican or Democrat, but to see anybody get up from an attempted assassination, I think we should all be happy for that or excited for that or thankful for that,” Luckey explained.

Although the tattoo will always serve as a reminder of the attempted assassination, Luckey and Guerra suggested that we also remember the man who died shielding his family and those who were injured.

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