Berkeley hot dog chain fires cook said to have been at Virginia protest

East Bay hot dog chain Top Dog posted notice Sunday that it had fired an employee after he was reported to have participated in a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. East Bay hot dog chain Top Dog posted notice Sunday that it had fired an employee after he was reported to have participated in a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Photo: Steve Rubenstein Photo: Steve Rubenstein Image 1 of / 92 Caption Close Berkeley hot dog chain fires cook said to have been at Virginia protest 1 / 92 Back to Gallery

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.