Uno Pizzeria Fires Employee Who Carried Tiki Torch While Marching In Charlottesville Rally

A Vermont man lost his cooking job at an Uno Pizzeria & Grill after the company learned of his participation in a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Burlington Free Press reports. After the release of a Vice News Tonight documentary on HBO and online, social media users identified Ryan Roy marching with a tiki torch, chanting racist slogans. A now-deleted Instagram post also places the 28-year-old at the rally holding his baby. Screenshots of the newscast were tweeted at the Yes, You're Racist Twitter account, and the franchise decided to terminate his employment after being flooded with phone calls and social media messages.

@YesYoureRacist This is Ryan Michael Roy of Burlington, VT. He works at Uno's and brought his baby cuz you're never to young to be a nazi. pic.twitter.com/yjaB3goN1N

— melooh (@meloo) August 15, 2017

Roy confirmed that he was in fact at the rally, adding that he favors separation based on race and a white nation.

"I feel like white people are discriminated against in this country," Roy told the Burlington, Vermont, alt-weekly Seven Days. "You see a lot of stuff in the media and in popular culture portrayed by the left in this country that is, frankly, anti-white. But that's not white supremacy. We just want to stand up for our own culture and heritage."

As of August 15, Roy is no longer employed at Uno Pizzeria & Grill, the Boston-based chain's chief marketing officer, Skip Weldon, told the Burlington Free Press. "We are committed to the fair treatment of all people and the safety of our guests and employees at our restaurants," Weldon explained.

The Daily Meal reached out to the restaurant's South Burlington location, whose managers declined to comment. Other businesses have felt compelled to respond to the rally as well — here's what Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told his employees after the Charlottesville violence.