A wine expert working at an Oxfordshire Waitrose claims he has endured death threats and is facing being sacked over tweets he posted.
Ben Woods has worked at the supermarket branch on Bell Street since he was 15 years old and has since taken several courses to become a wine specialist.
The 41-year-old’s career progression has been halted though after tweets he posted online surfaced leading to job insecurity and death threats.
Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Woods said Waitrose had “destroyed” his life and made him “suicidal” after he was suspended.
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He said: “I've given them my life, but Waitrose has been treating me like a criminal. I'm a Conservative. That's not illegal.
“I was getting quite a lot of visibility. I was doxxed. Two accounts put I worked at Henleyand put a photo of me.”
Mr Woods believes his employer is “attacking” him due to his opinions and that a “witch hunt” is forming against him.
“It's really upsetting. It looks like they are going to sack me. They just want to get me out of the way," he added.
“When they started their investigation, I was suicidal. They suspended me. My anxiety was really shot to pieces. It still is.”
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The series of posts on X included a cartoon joking about children naming 100 different genders as well as a repost of a cartoon saying a child had failed a sexual education class for failing to name 100 different genders and comments about banning the Burqa and marriage between cousins.
X owner Elon Musk retweeted one of Mr Woods’ posts which said: “Raise your hand if you want a national inquiry into the grooming rape gang scandal.”
More than 63 million people saw the repost and this propelled Mr Woods' account into the global limelight leading to a suspension from Waitrose.
He told MailOnline that he does not believe any of the tweets were racist and that he was not a “white supremacist” or a “Nazi” as some social media users have labelled him.
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A Waitrose spokeswoman said: “We would never discuss individuals, so we won't be making any comment.”
Thames Valley Police got involved when Mr Woods allegedly received a death threat over the phone while at work.
A spokesperson for the force said: “Following an investigation after a report received into Thames Valley Police on January 4, an investigation was launched to seek to identify an offender.
“However, this investigation did not lead to positive identification of a suspect, and as such, the case has now been filed, pending any new information coming to light.”
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