It's Official: Peter Navarro Is Back for the Second Trump Term
Tom Homan Ups the Ante in Verbal War With Sanctuary City Mayors
Was Kamala the First Candidate to Not Flip a Single County Since 1932?
Trump Called Pete Hegseth. Here's What He Told Him.
Elder Rape Is a Strength!
AGs Ask SCOTUS To Toss Mexican Lawsuit
McConnell Sounds Off on Two Federal Judges Who Reversed Retirement Plans After Trump...
UnitedHealthcare CEO Fatally Shot in NYC
The Final House Race Has Been Called
Democratic Stronghold Caves Into Trump's Popularity
Pete Hegseth's Mother Sets the Record Straight After 'Despicable' NYT Published Private Em...
Trump Makes Major Move in Crumbling Fani Willis Case
Trump's Threat to Hamas Represents Blunt, Refreshing Change
Here's What You Need to Know About the First-Ever SCOTUS Case on the...
Voter Turnout Was High, and Even Higher Participation Would Have Increased Trump's Victory...
Tipsheet

The Assassination of 'Peanut the Squirrel'

AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Did state officials execute a squirrel? That appears to be the case for this New York couple whose story set social media ablaze. It’s a classic tale of government overreach. It’s overkill—literally. The squirrel was a social media sensation, having been rescued by Mark Longo of Pine City, New York, several years ago. For some reason, the Department of Environmental Conservation thought ‘Peanut’ and another of Longo’s critters, Fred, the raccoon, were illegally owned. The length at which the state secured search warrants for the Longo home is tragically absurd. 

Advertisement

Mr. Longo alleges that he was treated like a terrorist as Peanut and Fred were seized by the state and then euthanized. Let’s call it what it is: the squirrel and the raccoon were brutally murdered because these woodland creatures just had to be taken because they posed a severe risk or something. What a crock. The incident even attracted the attention of the Trump campaign on TikTok. There was a statement that Mediaite thought Trump issued about the death of Peanut, but that was fake news (via NY Post): 

An upstate man whose beloved squirrel was cruelly killed by the state said he was treated like a “terrorist” when 10 government agents descended on his home during a five-hour raid. 

Mark Longo, whose pet P’nut captured the hearts of 3 million social media users, was stunned when a convoy of vehicles carrying officials from the state departments of Environmental Conservation and Health arrived at his Pine City home Wednesday. 

[…] 

“They treated me like I was a terrorist. They treated this raid as if I was a drug dealer. They ransacked my house for five hours,” Longo told The Post Saturday. 

“They asked my wife, who is of German descent, what her immigration status was. They asked if I had cameras in my house. They wouldn’t allow me to go to the bathroom without a police escort, who then checked the back of the toilet to see if I was hiding anything there.” 

[…] 

The state claimed it had to euthanize both animals Friday so that they could be tested for rabies — because the squirrel sunk its teeth into the hand of an official during the disturbing raid. The test results are not yet known. 

Longo, 34, cared for “P’Nut” for more than seven years, rescuing him when his mother was hit by a car. 

“We rehabbed him for eight months, we released him for a day and a half, but he ended up getting attacked. He never developed the instincts to survive outside,” Longo told The Post. 

[…]

Fred arrived four months ago, after being dropped off at their front door, and split time between an outdoor enclosure and a room in their residence. 

P’nut and Fred were targeted, and not other animals living on the 350-acre property, because they lived indoors. 

[…] 

The DEC said in a statement obtained by WETM that the raid was in response to complaints about Fred, the raccoon, but Longo claimed they used him as an excuse to get P’nut.

“The only time I ever talked to the DEC prior to this was when they got complaints from anonymous people on the internet for P’nut about five or six months ago and that was before Fred,” he said. “They used Fred as their go-to to get into my house.” 

Advertisement

All of this over a squirrel. They killed Peanut and Fred the raccoon because it seemed like some neighborhood ‘Karens’ had too much time on their hands. 

RIP, Peanut.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement