Remember that weird puff piece in the New York Times about the Ohio-based neo-Nazi named Tony Hovater? The backlash was swift against the publication—and now it appears that the backlash has had dire consequences for Hovater, as well. The Washington Post reports:
Hovater, a 29-year-old Ohio resident, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that he has been fired from his job and that he and his wife, Maria, are in the process of moving out of their home in New Carlisle, Ohio, for financial and safety reasons. They could no longer afford to pay the rent, he said, and somebody had published their home address online.
“It’s not for the best to stay in a place that is now public information,” he said, adding later: “We live alone. No one else is there to watch the house while I’m away.”
His former employer, who also fired his wife and brother-in-law, said they didn’t know they had a racist on their payroll. In an official statement, they explain that the harassment after the piece was published extended to other employees:
Since the release of this article, we have been swamped with phone calls and social media messages that are threatening and intimidating to both us and our employees. These hateful and disturbing messages are truly saddening to those of us who just want to serve delicious food and cold beers.
Due to these very disturbing threats, the employee who was featured in the article suggested that we release him from employment. We have done so and have also released his wife and her brother who also worked for us. We felt it necessary to fully sever the relationship with them in hopes to protect our 20 other employees from the verbal and social media threats being made from individuals all over the country, and as far as Australia. We neither encourage nor support any forms of hate within our establishment.
The Root reports that his fellow violent racists are chipping in to help cover living expenses. More than $8,000 have been crowdfunded on the site GoyFundMe (yes, you read that right).