Chikin Graffiti Artist Comes Forward

The man who spray-painted "Tastes Like Hate" on a California Chick-Fil-A franchise has voluntarily come forward and he is openly gay NYC-trained artist Manny Castro. His online bio reads:

After studying at Parsons The New School for Design in New York, Castro launched his fine art career with his first solo show being the main window installations for Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and subsequently additional installations at Barney’s New York and Fred Segal. Since relocating to Los Angeles, some of Hollywood’s greatest have posed for him including Milla Jovovich, Derek Blasberg, Agnes Bruckner, Amanda Lepore, Patrick McMullan, and Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan from "Karmin". He has remained true to his belief that art is an experience that should be easily accessible to everyone.

Castro has been interviewed by the Huffington Post.

"Everybody is entitled to free speech, but it seems like for the gay tribe, this is more of an issue of equal rights -- human rights," explained Castro. "I'm against what these people stand for, what this company stands for. They're trying to take away what little rights we already have." And when Castro saw news photos of thousands of Americans lined up around the block to buy a sandwich in support of the company on "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," his heart sank even more. "I thought of the photographs from 40 years ago of Christians protesting blacks marrying whites," said Castro. "It is the same thing."

Commenters on Michelle Malkin's Twitter-based site Twitchy have launched a campaign calling for Castro's prosecution by local authorities. Sample comments:

-"So when are they going to arrest, fine, prosecute and jail this idiot communist artist? He has no consideration for Private Property, nor the cost to the taxpayers to clean up his mess. If that were my wall, he'd be dead right now."

-"We need to be sure that this "artist" is prosecuted. Everyone needs to e-mail the Torrance police office and make sure they arrest Castro. Remind them that if they don't they aren't a force for justice, but for politics. Email: Communityaffairs (at) torranceca.gov."

-"This guy has two things against him ,he is Gay and a Mexican ,can't get any worst !!"

-"Manny is a fag and should be arrested!"