Law enforcement officials in New Jersey have arrested a man who, they claim, encouraged a pair of “pit bull-type” dogs to attack and kill a red-tailed hawk and a cat for videos that he then posted on social media.
On Tuesday, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced the arrest and charging of Ibn Lloyd, 38, of Newark, on charges related to the creation of these social media videos along with charges related to the alleged operation of a controlled substance production facility and other drug and weapon offenses.
In a statement on the arrest, Platkin said Lloyd has been charged along with seven others — Aniyah Arrington, 24, Kenneth Benbow, 64, Jose Thornton, 49, Darrell Bullock, 67, Darryl Mitchell, 57, and Terrance Herring, 32, all of Newark, and Cornelius Utley, 48, of Bloomfield — who have been charged with a variety of drug offenses.
“In the course of investigating drug trafficking in the city of Newark, law enforcement officers also uncovered evidence of extraordinary animal cruelty,” said Platkin, in a statement on the arrests. “Diligent police work resulted in our charging this defendant for those acts, as well as for serious drug and weapons offenses. This case shows the importance of the hard work our law enforcement partners do to keep all our communities safer.”
According to a statement from Platkin’s office, these arrest come after police discovered a video on social media, in December of 2024, that appeared to show a juvenile red-tailed hawk being attacked by a pair of dogs.
In the video, officials said, a man’s voice can be heard encouraging the dogs to kill the hawk as the animals fight, leading to one of the dogs being attacked and “the hawk’s talons grab onto one of the dog’s faces, after which the dog yelps loudly, and there appears to be blood on the hawk’s feathers.”
An investigation into this video, Platkin’s office said, revealed that Lloyd was, allegedly, the creator of the social media accounts where the video was posted.
Officials said that, investigators also determined that Lloyd, allegedly, owned both of the dogs seen in the video, his voice was the one heard in the video and the enclosure seen in the video was located at his home along the 400 block of South 6th Street in Newark, New Jersey.
Later that same month, officials said, a video that showed a cat hiding under a dumpster as a pair of dogs were encouraged to “get it” was posted to the same social media accounts that investigators claim Lloyd used.
In that video, the dogs can later be seen carrying around, what appeared to be, a dead cat, police said.
However, prior to the discovery of these videos, Platkin’s office said police were investigating a drug traffic operation at two homes located along the 400 block of South 6th Street — including Lloyd’s residence — and another property located along the 400 block of Jelliff Avenue.
This investigation, which spanned from November of 2024 through May of 2025, allegedly uncovered crack cocaine, packaging materials, paraphernalia, firearms — including a nail gun fashioned to look like an automatic weapon — a bulletproof vest and ammunition, which resulted in gun charges against Lloyd, police said.
Lloyd is currently detained by police after making his initial court appearance on May 19, 2025, officials said.
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