Arizona man fired after writing on Facebook 'can't wait to drive through anti-Trump protesters'

A man from Arizona has been fired from his job for making a joke on Facebook about driving his car through a crowd of Trump protesters, less than two weeks after a woman was killed when a white supremacist ploughed his car into anti-fascist demonstrators in Charlottesville.

James Cobo wrote on the Facebook event for an anti-Trump protest: "You are all pathetic. Can't wait to drive through. 4x4 with push bumper will be sweet in this crowd. I named my lifted truck 'trumper'."

The comment was posted just 10 days after neo-Nazi James Fields drove his car at high speed into anti-fascism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Cobo was fired from his company West Valley Tires Point S for his comments.

"West Valley Tires Point S wants to publicly state we do not condone or support violence or prejudice in anyway shape or form," a company statement read.

"We were recently made aware of an employee that posted outrageous posts and videos that are in no way affiliated with the positive views, values and appreciation we have for people in our community and throughout the world. That person is no longer affiliated with West Valley Tires Point S," the company concluded.

Cobo told The Republic newspaper that his comment was meant as a "joke."

"I'm being made into a horrible person over a joke that was just meant to ruffle some feathers," he said. "I admit it was a tasteless joke, but keyword here is it was a joke. If anybody was ever going to go and intentionally hurt people, why would they talk about it on social media publicly before doing it?"

He stressed that he had no intention of carrying out a vehicle attack. "I never said I was actually going to hit anybody with a vehicle. They assumed it. Never would have thought it would be a big deal."

Cobo said his comment was not meant to be taken as a reference to Heyer's death, but he expressed little sympathy for her family.

"If you play in the road, you might get hit by a car. My parents taught me that when I was little," he said. "Now, her family has $225,000, because she played in the street, and people feel sorry for her family."

He added that he was not upset about being fired, but about the fact that in today's United States "adults are able to throw a tantrum and raise hell and get what they want by doing so".

"This is not how America is supposed to work," said Cobo, whose Facebook profile reveals that he is a loyal Donald Trump supporter.

In a recent post, Cobo wrote: "President Trump's tweets are him as a real person. I think that's a big part of why he got elected was because he's real and he's not afraid to be real. I like that he's not just a smooth-talking criminal that knows how to use proper etiquette at a microphone."