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\n PA<\/p>\n
THE FAMILY OF William Chapman, who was killed by a tiger at a wildlife park, have said \u201cdeeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress\u201d after US President Donald Trump reposted a widely shared video of the incident.<\/p>\n
Trump posted footage of Chapman being fatally attacked by a tiger at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park to 13 million followers on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old\u2019s family posted a tribute, also on Tuesday evening, describing him as a \u201cbright, warm and engaging young man\u201d, criticising the online reaction to his death and questioning what part his \u201csignificant mental illness over a number of years\u201d and prescribed strong medication played in the incident.<\/p>\n
The US president accompanied the short clip \u2013 which showed the animal biting and clawing Chapman as he sat in the enclosure, but not him being killed \u2013 with the signed message: \u201cDon\u2019t ever mess with nature!\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning Trump followed this up with another post \u2013 this time an AI-generated video of him grappling with a tiger, which appears to mimic the original.<\/p>\n
The clip, which is accompanied by the Tight Fit song The Lion Sleeps Tonight, features the president copying the pointing gesture made by Chapman, and ends with him hugging the animal.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard condemned the president\u2019s actions, saying the Chapman family had contacted his office.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Coppard said: \u201cThey spoke to my office yesterday, sharing the pain and suffering it\u2019s causing them knowing that videos and pictures of his death are being shared across social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president of the United States now using AI to mock that incident and the pain felt by the family of Mr Chapman, for little more than a cheap laugh on social media, should be greeted with the contempt it deserves.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m asking you, please, not to add to this family\u2019s pain. If someone shares the content with you, please don\u2019t pass it on. \u201d<\/p>\n
\n PA<\/p>\n
PA\n<\/p>\n
The mayor said: \u201cWhat happened at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday was tragic, not least because it\u2019s a place so many people associate with a family day out.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe family of Mr Chapman remain utmost in my thoughts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know all decent people across South Yorkshire will be sending them their love, thoughts and empathy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Downing Street said people should respect the views of Chapman\u2019s family but would not directly comment about Trump posting the videos online.<\/p>\n
The prime minister\u2019s official spokesman said: \u201cI think obviously the family have made their position clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, we respect that position.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he added: \u201cI\u2019m not going to comment on the president\u2019s social media channels, he\u2019s got a press secretary who can speak to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
An inquest is due to open into the death at Doncaster Coroner\u2019s Court on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
Chapman, who was mauled to death when he entered the tiger enclosure at the park in Doncaster on Saturday, had suffered from \u201csignificant mental illness over a number of years\u201d, the family said in their statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time. We ask people to stop doing this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the statement, his family added: \u201cWilliam was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved \u2013 and William loved them back.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, William suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death. We would ask everybody to respect that process.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"trump\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792007531_82_.jpeg\")
\n Trump posted the video on Truth Social Alex Brandon \/ PA<\/p>\n
Alex Brandon \/ PA \/ PA\n<\/p>\n
As a child, Chapman appeared in ITV\u2019s May Contain Nuts, alongside Harry Potter actress Shirley Henderson, and in the BBC\u2019s True Stories series, according to IMDB.<\/p>\n
He previously attended Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.<\/p>\n
In a tribute shared on Facebook, the school said it was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d to hear of the loss of its former student, adding \u201cwe loved watching William grow, both as a person and as a performer\u201d.<\/p>\n
The park will remain closed on Wednesday for a fifth day following the attack.<\/p>\n
Emergency services were contacted shortly after 1.30pm on 10 October when Chapman, who police said was visiting the park alone, entered the enclosure.<\/p>\n
He was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n
City of Doncaster Council, which is responsible for licensing the park, said on Monday it had started a health and safety investigation.<\/p>\n
In a previous statement on social media, the wildlife park said \u201cmany, many people\u201d had contacted them about Altai, the Amur tiger involved in the incident, and it confirmed he is \u201csafe and well\u201d and will not be euthanised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE FAMILY OF William Chapman, who was killed by a tiger at a wildlife park, have said \u201cdeeply…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[218,969,61,60,82,277318,33938,263,277319,277320],"class_list":["post-654789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-donald-trump","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-south-yorkshire","tag-truth-social","tag-wildlife","tag-william-chapman","tag-yorkshire-wildlife-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}