The news swirled around the Capital District. A seven-year-old boy, Harbe Nagi, went missing from a home in Menands. Immediately the community leaped into action. Amber Alerts. Neighborhood watches. Prayer chains.
And they were racing against time. Harbe Naqi was a seven-year-old boy with autism, who might not respond to verbal calls or cues. But the community did not give up. They tried everything to find him.
Yesterday, however … the worst news. Harbe Nagi was found two houses away. He had drowned in a neighbor’s swimming pool. A cruel and horrible accident.
And the rescue turned into recovery. Grief counseling. Prayers. Hugging of loved ones. The most horrifying and traumatic moments any family could experience – the loss of their child. This is the news report from WRGB.
And through the outpouring of grief on social media platforms …
Came this little message. A message from a local restaurateur.
The one message, above all others, that said something no one expected … but no one would forget.
Yeah. That post.
A Taste of Italy is a pizza and Italian restaurant near the Latham Circle. And they treated that child’s death the same way the Westboro Baptist Church treats soldier deaths – by making it all about THEMSELVES and mocking and insulting the deceased.
And it got worse from there.
When someone called out this horrifying comment, the original poster not only doubled down, they pulled out an extra set of chips and threw them on the table.
Unvarnished racism and Islamophobia.
And if you want to go one step farther … the owner of A Taste of Italy tried to perform damage control. He first tried the “It wasn’t me, someone hacked my account” excuse…
Then he went for another apology, using the “I’m not racist, some of my best friends are …” tropes.
Then the owner of A Taste of Italy went on the local news, where it was revealed that “someone,” possibly one of (in his words) 40 people who have access to the account, who the horrifying messages, but her excuse was that she posted it from the business account and not from a personal or anonymous account. In other words, someone could not control their sockpuppet use.
This is the YouTube video of his interview from WRGB.
Well, isn’t that nice. I’m sure everybody will forgive A Taste of Italy’s owners for some malicious unnamed employee who somehow used the company’s account to post incendiary messages about a dead child.
I can tell you right now, based on what I see there, I wouldn’t eat anything from A Taste of Italy if my life depended on it. If they were the only restaurant in the Capital District, I would choose to starve instead.
And no amount of apologies from the restaurant’s owner will change my mind. You can’t un-break this plate.
If nothing else, please let us remember Harbe Nagi for the few precious years he existed on this earth and the joy he brought to his family.
And remember that name when you make your restaurant choices going forward.
As far as I’m concerned, A Taste of Italy can go kick rocks.
Chuck The Writer 
Facebook-sober for 19 years, with no regrets.
Everyone has opinions about everything, and that’s where they’re dumped.
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i am so sad about Harbe losing his life, what a heartbreaking tragedy for his entire family. the vitrol that flowed from that restaurant owner is horrifying and insane. the business deserves everything they get from the public at this point, now knowing who they really are. some people great joy out of hurting others and they don’t care.
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