The prosecutor in charge of the Harambe gorilla shooting at Cincinnati Zoo said the “nastiest” emails sent for an “idiotic” reason came from Europe.
Joe Deters, who investigated the mother of the three-year-old boy who fell inside a gorilla enclosure, told 700WLW radio: “Europe are beside themselves."
“The nastiest emails we got were from Europe," he added.
His comments came just one hour after he held a press conference to announce that the child’s mother would not face any charges.
Mr Deters added that the emails from Europe were sent due to an “idiotic reason”.
“They think the gorilla should not have been taken out, but for the safety of that three-year-old, it had to be,” he said.
A vigil for the gorilla was held shortly after he was shot dead at Cincinnati Zoo.
Anger was quickly turned on the mother and the zoo staff, accusing the mother of not keeping a close watch on her children and the zoo for raising a gun too quickly.
The prosector, who has over 25 years of experience, said he had never seen such a reaction to a case.
Everyone was looking for someone to blame, he explained.
Mr Deters was investigating a possible child endangerment case after the mother of four “turned her back for a moment” and one of her children slipped over a low barrier and into the gorilla enclosure.
After falling 15 feet, the child was dragged around in the water by Harambe the gorilla, but remarkably was not hurt. The gorilla was then killed by zoo staff.
At the press conference, Mr Deters said he questioned “some folks'” moral equivalence of human life and animal life.
“It’s wrong,” he said simply.
