Long Island Restaurant Tutto Pazzo Boarded Up After Owner’s Racist Comments

On #BlackoutTuesday, over 50 protesters gathered around the Tutto Pazzo Italian restaurant and covered the front of it with watermelons. The outrage began after owner Luigi Petrone went on Facebook Live and made racist comments towards protesters in the Huntington area on Monday afternoon. In the video, Petrone stated, “little punks… They look like little animals, little savages… They came in and they came out, they saw a bunch of us, with a bunch of watermelons we were going to throw at them.” Most of the video is him warning other local businesses about protesters, but he completely crossed the line with these comments. The people that he targeted with this video were not destroying anything or being violent in anyway. Marchers gave him what he deserved the next day by organizing a peaceful protest specifically outside of Tutto Pazzo. 

Protesters got a little creative with their nonviolent options. Alluding to Petrone’s comment about ‘throwing watermelons’ at them, protesters brought watermelons of their own and piled them in front of the restaurant. Some of them even had notes written on them saying, “boycott racism”.

Petrone has since apologized by stating, “The words were taken out of context… I was wrong,” but this doesn’t seem fitting in regards to his previous statements. Huntington Now was first to report this story and Tracy Edwards, former member of the Huntington Town Board and the Long Island Regional Director of the NAACP, also offered her opinion on the matter.

“You need to make another video and don’t be shy. Apologize to all of us. As a Huntington resident, I, like many others, have spent hard-earned money in your restaurant. Never again. As a NAACP leader, I would like to meet with you along with the President of the Huntington Village Business Owners Association, the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, and the Huntington Town Supervisor.”

The Tutto Pazzo restaurant is now boarded up and seems to be anticipating a closure. Hopefully some sort of justice will be implemented to fit this act of racism.