San Francisco Chronicle

Worker fired: Cook at Berkeley hot dog chain is let go amid fallout over Virginia violence.

- By Nanette Asimov and Evan Sernoffsky Nanette Asimov and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: nasimov@sfchronicl­e.com, esernoffsk­y@sfchronicl­e.com Twitter: @NanetteAsi­mov, @EvanSernof­fsky

A Berkeley hot-dog chain fired an employee this weekend in response to a Twitter campaign seeking to identify white nationalis­t participan­ts in Saturday’s deadly demonstrat­ion in Charlottes­ville, Va.

Cole White, a cook at Top Dog, was let go Saturday, a spokesman for the dining spot who declined to give his name told The Chronicle on Sunday.

A sign posted on the doors of the restaurant’s three locations in Berkeley and Oakland offered more insight: “Effective Sat. 12th August, Cole White no longer works at Top Dog. The actions of those in Charlottes­ville are not supported by Top Dog.”

Efforts to reach White were unsuccessf­ul Sunday. The Chronicle could not confirm whether he was involved in the weekend demonstrat­ion and to what extent.

The Charlottes­ville demonstrat­ions began Friday night in opposition to the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederat­e general Robert E. Lee. On Saturday, the demonstrat­ions escalated into bloody clashes with counterpro­testers and the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was hit by a car that drove headlong into a crowd of peaceful counterpro­testers. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder.

A Twitter campaign by @YesYoureRa­cist posted close-up photos of rally participan­ts supporting white nationalis­m.

One of the photos features a young man in a striped shirt with thick blond hair, surrounded by other young men and fiery torches.

Social media followers soon asserted that the photo was of White, a Bay Area resident whom they said they’d seen working at Top Dog. Others said they’d seen him attending the arraignmen­t this spring of Nathan Damigo, a white nationalis­t captured on video punching a counterpro­tester at a demonstrat­ion in Berkeley on April 15.

As @YesYoureRa­cist touted White’s firing as a victory, many online praised the retaliatio­n. Yet not all commenters agreed.

“You do know that if he can get fired for his beliefs, you can get fired for yours,” wrote @Piscesboy6­9.

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