--- title: Gorilla Death: Now Even a Witness Is Being Harassed description: Apparently now just being adjacent to a news event is enough to stir up the blind rage of the internet mob canonical: https://time.com/4355635/gorilla-zoo-cincinnati-mom-harassed/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-02T19:22:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:40.716Z og:title: Now Even a Witness to the Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla’s Death Is Being Harassed og:description: Irate internet warriors are confusing her with the mother og:url: https://time.com/4355635/gorilla-zoo-cincinnati-mom-harassed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaafa804da8377682/69889610bc6cfc07b33dd3c4/gorilla-death-cincinnati-zoo-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: A mother and her child visit a bronze statue of a gorilla outside the Cincinnati Zoo's Gorilla World exhibit in Cincinnati, Ohio og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Now Even a Witness to the Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla’s Death Is Being Harassed twitter:description: Irate internet warriors are confusing her with the mother twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaafa804da8377682/69889610bc6cfc07b33dd3c4/gorilla-death-cincinnati-zoo-mom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Now Even a Witness to the Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla’s Death Is Being Harassed > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4d9ff9d6-bfb9-4dd5-a79e-e583eb72745a&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Mom's 911 Call At Cincinnati Zoo [Watch (HLS stream): Mom's 911 Call At Cincinnati Zoo](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tM7stzkY.m3u8) (0:36)  _Published 2016-06-01_  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jun 2, 2016 7:22 PM UTC  A mother and her child visit a bronze statue of a gorilla outside the Cincinnati Zoo's Gorilla World exhibit, two days after officials were forced to kill Harambe, a Western lowland gorilla, in Cincinnati, May 30, 2016. A mother and her child visit a bronze statue of a gorilla outside the Cincinnati Zoo's Gorilla World exhibit, two days after officials were forced to kill Harambe, a Western lowland gorilla, in Cincinnati, May 30, 2016. William Philpott—Reuters  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jun 2, 2016 7:22 PM UTC Apparently now just being [adjacent](http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/06/02/woman-who-witnessed-gorilla-incident-harassed-online/85290090/) to a viral news event is enough to stir up the blind rage of the internet mob. The [mother](http://time.com/4352116/cincinnati-zoo-gorilla-harambe-mother/?iid=sr-link2) of a toddler who fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo—prompting zoo officials to shoot and kill the animal out of fear for the child’s safety—has received stern criticism [and worse ](http://time.com/4351781/mother-of-toddler-in-cincinnati-gorilla-incident-defends-herself/?iid=sr-link1)from people furious over what they say is bad parenting that led to the death of an endangered gorilla. But now a woman who merely witnessed the event is on the business end of a stream of vitriol from the the Facebook mob. Brittany Nicely was visiting the zoo with a small group of people, including her two young children. She witnessed the child—again, not her child—slip into the gorilla enclosure and spoke to the media about what she had seen. Then she started getting the messages. “Good parenting, b—h,” read one message Nicely received on Facebook, [reports Cincinnati.com](http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/06/02/woman-who-witnessed-gorilla-incident-harassed-online/85290090/). “Just a bunch of name calling and people saying I’m an irresponsible parent,” Nicely said. “I think there’s a lot of people out there who don’t read anything. They see something, they go by what other people are saying and then they jump to conclusions.” Nicely defended the Zoo’s decision to kill the animal and the mother’s parenting. “The difference between her and any other parent, who is a good parent when their children get in accidents, is her’s was at the zoo,” she said. “It wasn’t at the pool, it wasn’t at a park, it wasn’t at a mall where people are getting snatched up.” In response to the stream of angry messages she’s received Nicely has since taken down her Facebook page.” “I’m not hiding, but people are cruel,” she said. \[[_Cincinnati.com_](http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/06/02/woman-who-witnessed-gorilla-incident-harassed-online/85290090/)\] ## Transcript I need you to call bleep. What is the address? I need you to call bleep. Cincinnati 911. What is the address Hi. My son fell in the zoo exhibit at the gorillas. The Cincinnati Zoo. My son fell in with the gorilla. There's a male gorilla standing over him. I need someone to contact the zoo please. Okay, We do already have that started. We do already have help started there, okay? How old is- Okay [ NOISE ] be calm, be calm, be calm! How old is- Be calm, be calm, he dragging my son, I can't watch this. I can't- How is your son? I can't watch. Okay let me help you out there. 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