New Video Shows Gorilla Holding Hands With Boy As ‘Justice For Harambe’ Gets 310,000 Sigs
The Harambe situation grows more intense with each passing day. As reported by the Inquisitr, a Change.org petition for Harambe quickly gained 35,000 signatures. By Tuesday, that same “Justice for Harambe” Change.org petition had swelled to more than 310,000 signatures.
The parents of the 4-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla enclosure received backlash on Facebook — especially after Michelle Gregg’s photos and Deonne Dickerson’s pictures were released and went viral. People even took to the wrong Michelle’s Facebook page to leave hateful comments.
Warning: The below video showing Harambe holding hands with the little boy and dragging him protectively through the water — likely to remove the boy away from the throngs of people screaming — might be disturbing to some viewers.
However, new and extended video coverage has emerged that shows Harambe the gorilla holding hands with the boy prior to being shot and killed by Cincinnati Zoo officials. As seen in the above extended video from the Daily Mail, the gorilla appears to be protectively holding the boy’s hand.
Even though the hand-holding is being viewed as a touching and emotional move, zoo experts report that they have seen Harambe crush a coconut with one hand. Therefore, they knew the power that the gorilla possessed and they stand by their decision to take down the gorilla in order to spare the boy’s life.
On Facebook, the Justice for Harambe page has received more than 110,000 likes. Comments about the death of the gorilla continue to roll into social media, with the killing of the gorilla being hotly debated during Memorial Day and beyond. Although that Facebook page’s aim is to seek justice for the 17-year-old gorilla, a recent post on the Facebook page instructed followers to keep the conversations civil and to stay away from the types of hate speech that have been directed at the parents of the 4-year-old boy. A scroll through Facebook and Twitter reveals the parents being called all sorts of profane names.
The “Justice for Harambe” Facebook page told their followers that any posts revealing personal information about the parents, such as their home address and phone numbers, would be deleted from the Facebook page.
“Welcome to Justice for Harambe – the ONLY original Facebook page.
“In the past 36 hours we have had over 100,000 people from all over the world join this page. Needless to say, we are all just a little overwhelmed! Please be patient with us as we try hard to keep up, answer posts, and respond to questions that are being sent to us.
“Please note: Posts that contain the Mother’s phone number, address, place of employment, or any other information of this type will be DELETED and the individual posting it will be BANNED. No exceptions.
“Please keep your conversations civil. We know that emotions are high – even ours are – but please respect each other’s opinions. Posts that are off topic – or posts containing vulgarity – will be deleted and the individual posting it banned.
“There are two petitions linked on this site – please be sure to sign them while you are here.
Although Michelle had initially posted a response on Facebook that thanked God for sparing her son’s life and explained that Gregg keeps close watch of her children, that Facebook post has since been deleted, as reported by Today. While Michelle noted that many people were too quick to judge her situation, she also thanked zoo officials for their quick response in saving her son’s life. Released from the hospital, the 4-year-old boy is doing fine, the family said in a recent statement.
New video shows Harambe the gorilla holding hands with boy, 4, who fell in enclosure https://t.co/6euqi1WLvn
— Metro (@MetroUK) May 30, 2016
As seen in the top photo above, a gorilla named Bikira holds onto her own foot at the Zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. That photo was taken on Sunday, April 24.
[Photo by AP Photo/Petr David Josek]
