Bush pictured with Harambe’s mum has spawned batshit “inside job” conspiracy theories

Former president of the United States George W. Bush is no stranger to being the subject of a conspiracy theory, but we can't honestly say we saw this one coming.

If you spend a lot of time online it's easy to forget that before we had Harambe Pokemon campaigns, Harambe-inspired golf heckling, #dicksoutforharambe and, most importantly, Harambe the mighty meme - Harambe was an actual living gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo in the US. It's been several months since the now internationally famous primate was shot dead after a four-year-old boy fell into his enclosure, but few have been willing to accept that the story should end there. There is one protest banner, however, that has particularly caught the eye. https://twitter.com/marincogan/status/756129001509416960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Up until now calling out Bush for Harambe's tragic demise couldn't be credited as much more than a wild and ultimately unfounded internet accusation, but recent developments mean it must be reconsidered as a wild and mostly unfounded internet accusation. Pictures published on Esquire and obtained from an archive at Riosmith.net show the then-Governor with a gorilla at Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. That gorilla just happens to be Harambe's mother, Kayla. [caption id="attachment_79593" align="alignnone" width="637"] Credit: Riosmith.net[/caption] [caption id="attachment_79600" align="alignnone" width="631"] Credit: Riosmith.net[/caption] https://twitter.com/lib_crusher/status/761398634004951040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Now, you might be looking at those images and thinking that, if anything, George W. Bush is seemingly more interested in befriending gorillas than cold-bloodedly murdering them. But Bro Bible reckon they've done a bit more digging. They point out that Bush became president on January 20, 2001, and one year later - as reported by The Mirror - Kayla, then 10, and her one-year-old son Makoko were killed in a gas leak at Gladys Porter Zoo. As local media outlets recounted it, a number of chlorine tablets in the enclosure became wet, and the resulting toxic fumes were fatal for a number of the animals. Harambe's half brother, Caesar, was also affected by the accident, and died from poisoning later that year. Bro Bible highlight that every gorilla to die from the leakage was a relative of Harambe - the rest lived. Harambe was moved to Cincinnati Zoo in 2014 and was fatally shot two years later. So in the 15 years since Bush took up presidency a whole gorilla family has died in varying and - some might say - suspicious circumstances. Did the 43rd president of the United States have it in for Kayla and her offspring after their first meeting? Did he believe that a group of captive gorillas somehow posed a threat to his office? Did they know something they shouldn't?  Did Bush do Harambe, or is this all just a massive and very unfortunate coincidence? Almost certainly, but George W. Bush conspiracy theories tend to have a lot of staying power. Watch this space. https://twitter.com/HarambeActivity/status/757422461713383424 Read more