In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
Conspiracy theorists believe that Bill and Hillary Clinton have ties to a statue in New York City that depicts a human trafficking “reptilian” abducting a child.
Seriously.
Users point to a small bronze sculpture at the 14th Street/Eighth Avenue subway station that shows an alligator with human hands coming out of a sewer while biting onto a small person with a money bag for a head.
Confused? Well, conspiracy theorists on Reddit believe that the imagery intends to glorify a human trafficking ring that uses underground tunnels to smuggle children out of the city.
“This sinister statue is conveniently located by the Clinton Foundation and the water where they abduct the children, take them straight underground, and out of the country via the tunnels under the water,” one user wrote.
Discussions on the topic have appeared on sites such as TikTok as well, where users similarly describe the statue as evil.
So is this statue, supposedly right next to the headquarters for the Clinton Foundation, signaling some type of devious operation run by the two political heavyweights?
Not so much.
For starters, the statue was built in 2001 as part of a public artwork project known as Life Underground. Developed by American sculptor Tom Otterness, the alligator sculpture, just one of numerous at the subway station, actually signifies a 1935 story surrounding an alleged alligator sighting by several boys.
The idea that the alligator represents the reptilian conspiracy theory, which claims that all the world’s most powerful leaders are actually lizard-like aliens intent on enslaving humanity, doesn’t hold water. Not even sewer water.
And what about the alleged ties to the Clintons? Well, the statue is about 2 miles away from Broadway where the Clinton Foundation building is located. It would take you around 40 minutes to walk from one to the other. Hardly next door.
The notion that the Clintons are secretly operating underwater tunnels in New York to smuggle children, which onlyconspiracy theorists are clever enough to know about, is also clearly absurd.
Rest assured that you will neither be abducted by the Clintons nor an alligator during your next visit to the Big Apple.
Why it matters
The alligator sculpture in New York City has been around for more than two decades. Yet just like the urban legend about legions of alligators swimming underground, the claims about the sculpture are also a work of fiction.
Nevertheless, the conspiracy theory persists, and will likely continue for as long as the statue (and the internet) exists.
