Uno Pizzeria Fires Employee Who Marched in Charlottesville White Supremacist Rally

An Uno Pizzeria & Grill chef by the name of Ryan Roy lost his job at a Vermont location of the chain this week after the company learned that he participated in the violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Roy was featured on camera in a Vice documentary about the march, chanting “Whose streets? Our streets!” while holding a tiki torch. Twitter user @fast_sneakers ID’d the pizzeria employee and alerted Uno to his participation in the hate rally. The restaurant also received calls about Roy’s involvement with the white supremacist gathering.

Earlier this week, Uno’s chief marketing officer Skip Wheldon told the Burlington Free Press: "Ryan Roy has been terminated... We are committed to the fair treatment of all people and the safety of our guests and employees at our restaurants."

Roy claims that people are telling lies about him on social media and he says that someone placed a call to Vermont Department for Children and Families about removing his child from his care. “I think it kind of just proves my point, proves a lot of what I think, not that I needed further proof," he tells the Burlington Free Press.

As for the legality of his termination, Jay Diaz of the American Civil Liberties tells the BFP: “If he's working at a private company, the First Amendment doesn't protect him from being fired."

• Pizza chain fires VT worker who joined Charlottesville rally [VFP]
• Charlottesville: Race and Terror [Vice News]
• Man, fired from job, makes no apology for carrying torch in Charlottesville [USA Today]
• Charlottesville violence: white supremacist Unite the Right rally leads to state of emergency in Virginia [Vox]