The family of a man killed by a tiger at a UK wildlife park have spoken at their “severe distress” at the circulation of online media content after the US president, Donald Trump, reposted a video of the incident.
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president → kill → incident
William Chapman, 23, was mauled to death after entering an enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, on Saturday.
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Chapman → maul → Saturday
His family described him as “bright, warm and engaging” and suffering from severe mental illness.
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family → describe → illness
They said online footage being shared was “deeply offensive” and causing them “severe distress”.
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footage → say → distress
One of those to circulate footage was Trump who posted a video clip of the tiger attack to 13million followers on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
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who → circulate → Tuesday
The clip showed the tiger biting and clawing Chapman as he was sitting in the enclosure.
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he → show → enclosure
At one point he wags his finger at the animal.
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he → wag → animal
Trump signed the footage with: “Don’t ever mess with nature! President DJT.”
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Trump → sign → DJT
It did not show Chapman being killed.
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Chapman → show → ?
Later the president posted an AI-generated video of himself grinning and having fun by chasing and play fighting with the tiger.
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himself → post → tiger
It is accompanied by the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens.
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Lion → accompany → Tokens
It features the president copying the pointing gesture made by Chapman and ends with him and the tiger hugging.
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him → feature → Chapman
Relatives of Chapman, in a statement released on Tuesday evening, said: “The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.
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what → release → terms
“The publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time.
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publication → cause → time
We ask people to stop doing this.
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We → ask → this
“The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their upmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.”
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he → do → what
The statement continued: “William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back.
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William → continue → them
“Sadly, William suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication.
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William → suffer → medication
“It will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death.
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this → decide → death
“We would ask everybody to respect that process.”
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We → ask → process
As a child, Chapman appeared in ITV’s 2009 comedy drama May Contain Nuts and in BBC Learning’s True Stories series, according to IMDb.
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Chapman → appear → IMDb
He previously attended Jackie Palmer stage school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, which paid tribute on Facebook and posted a picture of Chapman as a child student.
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which → attend → student
The school said it was “deeply saddened” by Chapman’s death, adding: “We loved watching William grow, both as a person and as a performer.
“
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William → say → performer
It was a privilege to be part of his journey, and he will be remembered with great fondness by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
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who → remember → him
“William will be truly missed, and he will always hold a special place in our hearts.
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he → miss → hearts
The wildlife park has said the Amur (Siberian) tiger involved, called Altai, will not be euthanised.
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tiger → say → ?
The park has remained closed since the weekend and Doncaster city council, which is responsible for licensing the park, said it had started a health and safety investigation.
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it → remain → investigation
An inquest is due to open into the death at Doncaster coroner’s court on Thursday morning.
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inquest → open → morning
The Aporia
