Man, fired from job, makes no apology for carrying torch in Charlottesville

BURLINGTON, Vt. — A Vermont man who lost his job for participating in the weekend's white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., is unapologetic about his views that people should be separated base on race.

Ryan Roy, 28, of Burlington, Vt., is recorded in a Vice News documentary carrying a torch during a demonstration protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The camera focuses on Roy as he yells the white supremacist group's chant: "Whose streets? Our streets."

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After the report, numerous online users identified Roy as a participant in the rally.

Until Tuesday, when he was fired for participating in the Charlottesville rally, Roy worked as a cook at Uno Pizzeria and Grill in South Burlington, Vt.

"Ryan Roy has been terminated," Skip Weldon, chief marketing officer for Boston-based Uno Pizzeria and Grill, said Tuesday.

Weldon added in an emailed statement: "We are committed to the fair treatment of all people and the safety of our guests and employees at our restaurants."

Roy identified as liberal when he was in high school, he said in an interview Tuesday with the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press. He graduated in 2007 and came to his views about race by doing research on the Internet, reading, listening to the radio and attending speeches.

Roy is now a vocalist for a local band called Hate Speech, favors white nationalism and separation based on race, and supports President Trump.

Roy blamed the violence in Charlottesville on counter-protesters who showed up to oppose white supremacists. Heather Heyer, one of the counter-protesters was later killed and more than a dozen others injured when a car struck the crowd, and the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, is charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run.

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"The left in this country is trying to destroy white culture and white heritage and American heritage, because history doesn’t fit their politically correct scenario," said Roy.

Roy said the reaction to his participation in the rally proves his beliefs about the liberal left. In addition to being fired, he said, people posted lies about him on social media, and some called the Vermont Department for Children and Families seeking to remove 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," Roy said. "I think it’s group think."

Roy said he favors separation based on race and a white nation.

"Obviously I would advocate for racial separation and racial nationalism or repatriation or even a return to — our country was a white country up until the 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Act," Roy said. The act removed quotas that favored immigrants from northern Europe. 

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Uno learned of the situation through social-media messages Tuesday morning and calls to the South Burlington pizzeria, Weldon said.

"As a result of the situation, the employee is suspended, and we are investigating the situation further," Weldon said midafternoon Tuesday. "We'll be able to make a full statement tomorrow based on our investigation."

By Tuesday evening, Roy had been dismissed.

"Thanks for letting us know about this," Uno responded to one user from its official Twitter account. "We are aware of the situation and are currently investigating it."

Vermont is an "at-will" employment state, which means workers can be fired for any reason that is not legally prohibited, such as an employee's gender or race, said Jay Diaz of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"If he's working at a private company, the First Amendment doesn't protect you from being fired," Diaz said.

Social media posts identifying Roy as a participant in the white supremacist rally shocked some of his longtime acquaintances.

Sam Wormer said he became friends with Roy in high school. Wormer was "completely shocked" to see the Vice News documentary that included Roy.

"He would attend anti-war rallies. He was very left — like anti-Republican, very progressive, very liberal, very anti-Christian," Wormer recalled. He said Roy was part of the "fringe crowd" and would stick up for anyone who was being bullied.

Wormer said Roy and his family welcomed him into their home for Thanksgiving dinner in 2006, when the two were close friends. They lost touch about two years ago, Wormer said, except for a brief interaction last September when Roy shared that he would soon become a father.

Roy said he was liberal when he was younger, which he said was a default position for someone growing up in Vermont. Over time he became libertarian, then conservative. 

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Roy said he spent time in the South when he was younger and feels a special connection to Southern history and culture. He now views Vermont as a "leftist safe space," and said the reaction to his involvement in the white supremacist rally shows "communist mentality" and "group think."

"There's nothing wrong with white people standing up for their own interest and identity," Roy said.

Follow April McCullum and Adam Silverman on Twitter: @April_McCullum and @wej12