Restaurant Owner's Comment Results In Downtown Tampa Protest

TAMPA, FL — Take care what you say on social media. An off-hand comment by the co-owner of a Tampa restaurant group on Instagram has resulted in a protest march and possibly an FBI investigation.

Lanfranco Pescante has resigned as the co-owner of the Nocturnal Hospitality restaurant group following backlash over a comment he made Saturday when hundreds of Tampa residents took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer.

Following peaceful daytime protests, violence erupted Saturday night. More than 40 businesses were vandalized or looted, three businesses were set on fire, and protesters threw stones and bottles at police officers. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Tampa Police Department arrested 50 people.

Referring to the protesters, Pescante posted the comment, “Just shoot them all," on his Instagram page, and the comment quickly spread across all social media channels.

Pescante was a co-owner of Noctural Hospitality, which operates several downtown Tampa restaurants including the Franklin Manor, 912 Franklin St., Osteria Bar & Kitchen, 903 N. Franklin St., Mole Y Abuela, 1202 Franklin St., and Shibui Tampa, 808 N. Franklin St.

His comment prompted about 500 angry protesters to march on the popular Franklin Manor bar after participating in two peaceful protests — one at 4 p.m. at Tampa City Hall and another at 6 p.m. at Herman Massey Park at 1002 N. Franklin St.

There, the protests turned violent. Participants began throwing bricks and bottles at police and climbing on top of police cars and smashing the windshield on one cruiser, according to Tampa Police.

Police used tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse the crowd and arrested 64 people for unlawful assembly. Four were also charged with resisting arrest.

After the Instagram comment made the rounds on social media, Pescante announced his immediate resignation and released a statement of apology:

“I sincerely apologize for my comments earlier this week. This is an emotional and heated time in our country and, as someone that has tried to bring people together as a career, the last thing I wish to do is to create more divisiveness. With that said there is no excuse for my actions. Effective immediately, I will step down from my role with Nocturnal Hospitality and I will step away from all venues that I am associated with.”

Nevertheless, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office and the FBI are looking into the matter.

Pescante was partners with celebrity chef Fabio Viviani and David Anderson in the Noctural Hospitality restaurant group. Bombarded by hundreds of complaints, threats of boycotts and accusations of racism, the Nocturnal Hospitality Group has taken down all of its social media pages.