Ghastly Sound Bassist Gets a White Supremacist Fired for Participation in the Charlottesville Rally
The liberal metal community is doing us all proud this week by fighting back against total asshats in a variety of non-violent ways. First there was BlöödHag singer Jake Stratton, who poured coffee on conservative con artist Alex Jones (and really just trolled Jones in general; the most satisfying part of the Stratton video is seeing how thin-skinned Jones is, freaking out the moment a random kid on the street insults him). And now we have this story.
Ghastly Sound aren’t the world’s most famous metal band, but hopefully, a good number of regular MetalSucks readers are familiar with ’em — ’cause we debuted a track from their shit-hot EP back in February. They’re a really talented group of guys, and as icing on the cake, it turns out they’re proud SJWs, too. To wit: bassist T.J. Maynard recently helped lead the charge to have Ryan Roy (above right) fired from an Uno pizzeria in South Burlington, VT, after recognizing Roy as a participant in the now-tragic Charlottesville rally. Maynard tells MetalSucks via e-mail:
“In Vice’s coverage of the events in Charlottesville, a member of my community was identified carrying a torch, chanting ‘our streets.’ As events compounded, it was determined that this person was also a member of a white power band and brought his infant child to the rally.
“I was able to identify the person’s place of employment and lead a flood of calls for his removal via phone and social media posts.”
Social media posts like these:
As if there was any doubt that Roy was a douchenozzle, Sasha Goldstein, deputy news editor for website Seven Days, was able to track Roy down to interview him, resulting in such delightful quotes as…
“I feel like white people are discriminated against in this country. You see a lot of stuff in the media and in popular culture portrayed by the left in this country that is, frankly, anti-white. But that’s not white supremacy. We just want to stand up for our own culture and heritage.”
…and…
“[B]ecause Vermont is a very white state, you don’t have all these problems you have in other parts of the country.”
…and:
“[Refugees] take jobs, they are given resources from our tax dollars. You hear about how there’s a housing shortage in Chittenden County, but they’re putting up these people who aren’t from this country. They bring them over and they don’t even speak our language.”
And in case that wasn’t bad enough, at the end of the interview, Roy expressed concern about the fact that Goldstein is Jewish, asserting that the interviewer might lie about what Roy has said “Because that tends to be what your ethnic group does.” So he’s a real charmer, top to bottom.
I can already hear people bitching that this is somehow a violation of Roy’s First Amendment rights, and apparently, one local Vermont news station reported on the story from that angle. This is a total crock of shit. Again: free speech means you can say whatever you want, but it also says that so can everyone else. Nobody is saying that Roy can’t spout whatever hateful batshit crazy nonsense he pleases… but that doesn’t mean there won’t potentially be consequences. Consequences such as a ton of people calling his place of business and making it clear they won’t be spending their money there anymore so long as that money will partially go into Roy’s pocket. Or, as Maynard puts it:
“They didn’t fire him because he went to the rally or exercised his right to freedom of speech. They fired him because when the community saw that he was there they told his employer that they would lose business if they kept him around. It was that free market conservatives love to tout at its best.”
You can read more about Roy’s firing here. Vermont readers: if you encounter Roy on the street, we strongly encourage you to buy the poor fella a cup of coffee. He could really use it right now.
