The man behind the Project 2025 manifesto previously told colleagues that he had killed a neighborhood dog with a shovel for barking too much, according to a report.
Former colleagues told The Guardian that Kevin Roberts, who is now the president of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, described killing a neighbor’s pit bull around 2004.
Roberts has denied killing the dog.
In an emailed statement to Newsweek, Mary Vought, a spokesperson for The Heritage Foundation, said: “The Guardian’s so-called news article is a slanderous hit job; this never happened. The “reporting” is based on 20-year-old hearsay where the dog owner himself admits he doesn’t even know what happened to this dog. Our defamation counsel is examining this now, and we reserve the right to take all legal action against The Guardian, as the story is false.”
President of the Heritage Foundation Kevin Roberts addresses delegates during the second day of the National Conservatism conference at The Emmanuel Centre in London on May 16, 2023. Former colleagues of Roberts have claimed that he once confessed to killing a dog with a shovel.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Kenneth Hammond, who was chair of the New Mexico State University history department where Roberts was working at the time, recounted hearing the anecdote from him.
“My recollection of his account was that he was discussing in the hallway with various members of the faculty, including me, that a neighbor’s dog had been barking pretty relentlessly and was, you know, keeping the baby and probably the parents awake and that he kind of lost it and took a shovel and killed the dog. End of problem,” Hammond said.
A professor and her spouse also told the paper they remembered hearing a similar account directly from Roberts.
“My husband and I were stunned. First of all, that he would do such a thing. And second of all, that he would tell us about it,” Marsha Weisiger told The Guardian. “If I did something horrific, I would not be telling my colleagues about it.”
Three other professors also said that they had been told the account secondhand from other colleagues at the time.
In a statement to The Guardian, Roberts said: “This is a patently untrue and baseless story backed by zero evidence. In 2004, a neighbor’s chained pit bull attempted to jump a fence into my backyard as I was gardening with my young daughter. Thankfully, the owner arrived in time to restrain the animal before it could get loose and attack us.”
None of Roberts’ former colleagues said that they remembered hearing that the dog in question was actively threatening Roberts or his family, The Guardian reported.
They told the paper that they had found the alleged admission unsettling and had not pressed Roberts for further details.
“I think that probably people were not eager to engage with him over this. It sounded like a pretty crazy thing to do and people didn’t want to get into it at that point,” Hammond said.
The Guardian said it tracked down the man Roberts said owned the dog in question, Daniel Aran. Aran confirmed that his pit bull Loca went missing around 2004, but said he did not know what happened to her or if Roberts was responsible.
Project 2025, created by the Heritage Foundation under Roberts’ leadership, has become a key talking point in the upcoming presidential election, with Kamala Harris and Democrats regularly referencing it and framing it as a plot to strip Americans of their freedoms.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from Project 2025, despite many of its contributors being former members of his administration.
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