OAN Staff Sophia Flores
6:45 PM – Thursday, May 28, 2026
Marking a full decade since an event that captured the nation’s attention, the White House released a formal retrospective honoring Harambe, the western lowland silverback gorilla whose 2016 death at the Cincinnati Zoo became a defining moment of modern digital culture.
In a statement tracking the 10-year anniversary, officials noted that Harambe’s memory has transcended standard internet memes to become a permanent fixture of “internet history, American culture, and an entire generation’s timeline.”
On Wednesday, what would have been Harambe’s 27th birthday, the official White House social media account posted a lengthy, 123 word- tribute to the gorilla, calling him “a true patriot.”
The gorilla was fatally shot on May 28, 2016, at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio after a 3-year-old boy climbed under a fence and entered the animal’s enclosure. Once inside, the toddler was dragged and handled by the 400-pound silverback for roughly 10 minutes before a zoo emergency response employee shot and killed the gorilla to protect the child.
Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard defended the decision in a statement at the time, maintaining that the employee’s actions “saved the child’s life.”
Harambe’s death immediately sparked an unprecedented, years-long public outcry. More than 509,000 people signing a Change.org petition titled, “Justice for Harambe,” while corners of the internet fiercely criticized the boy’s mother, accusing her of negligence for allowing the child to breach the enclosure.
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