NYPD Officer Kills Baby Following Breastfeeding: Hoax

Story:

NYPD officer kills baby because mother was breastfeeding.

Other Versions

NYPD officer kills Baby following breastfeeding argument.

Analysis:

The story shared widely online claims that a NYPD police officer had killed a baby following a breastfeeding dispute with the child’s mother. A circulating article that supposedly describes the incident says the NYPD officer identified as Michael Fitzsimmons grabbed the mother Suzanne by the collar of her shirt and pushed her away violently, which is when the baby toppled out of mother’s hands, banged onto her head and bled to death. Thankfully, what is described as a disturbing incident is a hoax.

Source

The claim in question originated from an article on NationalReport.net titled ‘NYPD Officer Kills Baby Following Breastfeeding Argument‘ that was published on 7 August 2014. By the next day, links and excerpts from the article were widely shared online and the story generated quite an uproar online, especially on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Some even went to say that the reputation of the NYPD is declining. The people who went on to believe in this story, however, did not realize the website National Report is satirical in nature and publishes many fake stories like the ones listed in reference section. The website even had a disclaimer earlier (which is now removed) which said the views expressed by writers are personal and are not to be considered as professional.

So a NYPD officer did not kill a baby following a breastfeeding argument with a mother; the claim originated from a satirical publication.