Berkeley hot dog chain Top Dog fires worker seen at white nationalist rally in Virginia

BERKELEY - A popular California hot dog chain that came under heat after one of its employees showed up in pictures taken at white supremacy protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, has fired him.

Management of Top Dog confirmed in an email Sunday afternoon that Cole White no longer works for the company. The confirmation came after social media exploded on Saturday with pictures of White amid the protesters in Charlottesville.

Three people died in the protests. James Alex Fields, 20, is suspected of driving a car into the protesters and killing 32-year-old Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer. Two Virginia State Troopers died when a helicopter they were monitoring the protests from crashed.

“Effective Saturday 12th August, Cole White no longer works at Top Dog,” the email statement read. “The actions of those in Charlottesville are not supported by Top Dog. We believe in individual freedom and voluntary association for everyone.”

The pictures of White began to circulate around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, when Twitter user @YesYoureRacist asked users to send pictures of those they recognized at the Virginia rally. Soon after, he posted a photo of White and linked him to the restaurant. White was not immediately available for comment.