2016 Disney Resort Alligator Attack
Overview
2016 Disney Resort Alligator Attack refers to a fatal alligator attack that claimed the life of two-year-old Lane Graves from Elkhorn, Nebraska, who was dragged into a man-made lake by the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida in mid-June, 2016.
Background
On June 14th, 2016, Graves was dragged into the Seven Seas Lagoon by an alligator near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Bay Lake, Florida. The following day, a dive team found Graves' body near the site of his disappearance. A subsequent report by the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office found that the death was likely caused by drowning and traumatic injuries.
Developments
Online Reaction
On June 15th, several posts about the attack reached the front page of the /r/MorbidReality,[14] /r/news/[15] and /r/WTF[16] subreddits. Meanwhile, Redditor frankreddit5 submitted a portrait of Graves with his mother to the /r/pics[1] subreddit, where it received upwards of 5,900 votes (62% upvoted) and 740 commentes (shown below).
That day, Twitter users began posting about the incident with the hashtag #DisneyGatorAttack.[2] Also on June 15th, Redditor EraserPolite posted a screenshot of a joke about the alligator attack to /r/4chan.[3] Meanwhile, Twitter user @TheKidMero[4] posted a photograph of an albino alligator, joking that if he ate someone people would talk about how he was "nice & kept to himself" (shown below, left). Additionally, Twitter user @Andrew_Ferrelli[5] posted a photograph of another albino alligator with the caption "Alligator linked to Disney attack has been struggling with psychological issues and depression" (shown below, right). Within 48 hours, the tweets gathered upwards of 41,000 likes and 18,000 likes respectively.
Brienne of Sarth Tweet
The following day, Twitter user Brienne of Sarth tweeted she was "so finished with white men's entitlement" that she couldn't feel sad about the child's death (shown below). The tweet received a large backlash from those who accused her of bigotry, leading her to delete her Twitter account. That day, the news sites Heat Street,[6] Mediaite[7] and Fox News[8] reported on the controversy.
News Media Coverage
In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the tragedy, including Snopes,[9] CNN,[10] The New York Times,[11] The Daily Dot[12] and The Telegraph.[13]
Search Interest
External References
[1] Reddit – this is the boy who was killed by an alligator in Orlando
[2] Twitter – #DisneyGatorAttack
[3] Reddit – /pol/ nicknames the alligator
[4] Twitter – @TheKidMero
[5] Twitter – @Andrew_Ferreli
[6] Heat Street – Fury as Feminist Blames Toddler Alligator Death on white privilege
[7] Mediaite – Feminist Doesnt Feel Bad About Toddler Alligator Death
[8] Fox News – Fury as feminist blames toddler alligator death on white entitlement
[9] Snopes – Child Dragged Into Disney Resort Lake by Alligator Found Dead
[10] CNN – Disney alligator attack
[11] The New York Times – Divers Find Body of Toddler Snatched by Alligator at Disney Resort
[12] The Daily Dot – Could an implant have saved the life of the toddler attacked by an alligator?
[13] The Telegraph – Alligator drags two-year-old boy into the water at Orlando Disney World Resort
[14] Reddit – /r/morbidreality
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