Tom Colicchio of 'Top Chef' says vandals targeted home with 'hate speech'

<p>Tom Colicchio of &ldquo;Top Chef&rdquo; says vandals targeted his Mattituck home with &quot;hate speech.&quot;</p>

News 12 Staff

Aug 23, 2018, 6:42 PM

Updated 2,071 days ago

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Tom Colicchio of “Top Chef” says vandals targeted his Mattituck home with "hate speech."
He says the graffiti was sprayed on his lawn, driveway, mailbox and on the street.
On Wednesday, Colicchio and his wife tweeted out a photo of the graffiti, which said in part, "Cuomo equals death to America." The word "Trump" was also spray-painted on his mailbox and driveway. 
He says it may have been fueled by his public support of Democratic congressional candidate Perry Gershon. Gershon is running against Republican Lee Zeldin in the 1st District. Gershon says everyone needs to get along.
“What's important is for both candidates to take a stand and say we won't have any of it,” says Gershon.
Rep. Zeldin wrote on his Facebook page Wednesday that the vandal needs to be arrested and that people should “settle your score at the ballot box, not like this!"
Colicchio told News 12 that he has received plenty of support from the community after the incident. He says he's lived on the North Fork for 16 years and that hate is not going to change his opinions.
Southold and Suffolk County police are investigating the incident, but are not classifying the vandalism as a hate crime.


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