Arizona Tattoo Artist Defends Decision to Ink American Flag on 9-Year-Old Girl

Mar. 15, 2025

Image of tattoo done on girl.Photo:cutzsosa/Instagram

cutzsosa/Instagram

A tattoo artist in Arizona has sparked a debate after posting about tattooing a 9-year-old girl.

In the description, he explains that he tattooed the child with an American flag on her arm last year when she was 9 years old after initially wanting to get aDonald Trumptattoo on her neck.

Stock image of a person being tattooed.Getty

Getty

Sosa said that while itis legal for minors to get a tattooif the minor’s parent or guardian is physically present in Arizona, he made sure the process was “not forced” and something she “loved.”

The girl, now 10 years old, visited the shop recently, but Sosa said she “changed her mind” about the Trump portrait and asked for a touch-up instead, and included a photo from the experience in his post.

“I’m getting a lot of hate from it,” Sosa toldAZFamily. “My employees are getting hate from it. My business, I’m getting so many bad reviews on Google.”

The tattoo shop is alsoreceiving backlash on its Facebook page.

“They were just very grateful to be here in the United States. They were just being grateful. They said they saw Donald Trump as a hero,” Sosa told AZFamily.

He told the outlet that his cut-off age for tattooing is normally 15, with parental consent, he is glad to have made the exception for the young girl.

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“I don’t tattoo my kids. I’m not promoting kids to come and get tattoos,” he said. Sosa also told Fox 10 Phoenix that he does believe “there should be laws and regulations of limiting the ages in order to do these procedures.”

source: people.com