Nazi sympathizer profiled by New York Times gets fired from job

Tony Hovater says he and his family had to move for own safety

Dec 1, 2017

The Nazi sympathizer who was recently profiled by the New York Times has lost his job after a massive backlash against him for the piece.

Tony Hovater, along with the restaurant in New Carlisle, Ohio, where he was formerly employed, 571 Grill and Draft House, confirmed that the article had prompted angry messages and even threats.

The New York Times article, which described Hovater as an otherwise normal person who went about his life “casually approving remarks about Hitler, disdain for democracy and belief that the races are better off separate,” didn’t mention the restaurant but instead described Hovater as a welder.

However, people outraged by the article, and by the seeming tacit acceptance given by the Times to white supremacist views, found out that Hovater, as well as his wife and brother-in-law, worked at the restaurant.

The manager of the restaurant, who asked that his name not be used for concerns about his own safety, said that the restaurant received many threatening phone calls and that employees began to be worried for their own safety.

Eventually, according to Hovater, “they decided to can me.”

Hovater also said in a new interview that he and his family were moving for their own safety.

Supporters on a site catering to the far right have raised over $6,000 for the Hovaters.