Business & Tech
Watermelons Piled At Tutto Pazzo After Owner's 'Racist' Rant
Huntington protesters made a watermelon display at Tutto Pazzo after owner Luigi Petrone said he had watermelons to throw at demonstrators.
HUNTINGTON, NY — Around 50 protesters gathered at Tutto Pazzo in Huntington on Tuesday as a response to owner Luigi Petrone's controversial comments in a Facebook Live video Monday. The protest, named "Operation Watermelon Drop-off," referenced Petrone's comments about Black Lives Matter marchers. He called them "savages" and "animals" and threatened to throw watermelons at them.
The restaurant was boarded up early Tuesday for unknown reasons.
Some of the watermelons dropped off had messages like "boycott racism" written on them. The protest was broadcast on Facebook Live by Collinsworth Hasan, a Huntington resident, and viewed by hundreds.
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Little Vincent's Pizza in Huntington dropped off pizzas for the crowd. Motorists honked support as they drove by on New York Avenue as the crowd slowly grew in numbers.
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