Fact-checking claim that a Utah Middle school allows students to be ‘terrorized’ by ‘furries’

Social media users and pundits have accused a Utah school district of allowing students who act like animals to bite, scratch and otherwise antagonize their peers. 

Former NBC and Fox News host Megyn Kelly shared a segment from her SiriusXM podcast April 18 on Facebook, captioned, "School allows students to be terrorized by colleagues who identify as ‘furries.’"

In the video, Kelly identified the school as Mount Nebo Middle School in Payson, Utah, and played a clip showing an April 17 protest, which the participants said was against "furries" in the classroom. Furries are people with an interest in depictions of anthropomorphic, cartoon animals. 

The footage showed kids at the protest claiming that other students, whom the protesters repeatedly called furries, "bite," "scratch" and "pounce" on people.  

The school has faced death and bomb threats since footage of the student walkout went viral on social media. 

The Facebook post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Conservative politicians and pundits have repeatedly stoked outrage about furries in schools, including promoting unsubstantiated myths that schools have provided litter boxes for furries. Kameron Dunn, a University of Texas at Austin researcher who has studied furries, previously told us that furries don’t pretend to be animals; they are interested in "the genre of animal that walks on two feet and talks like a person."

Seth Sorensen, Nebo School District spokesperson, told PolitiFact the district does not allow students to terrorize their peers. He said rumors about biting, scratching and other animalistic behavior at the middle school were "unfounded."

"There have been absolutely no incidents of biting, licking, costumes, or animal behavior at Mt. Nebo Middle School," Sorensen said. 

Eleven- and 12-year-old middle school students may sometimes come to school "with a headband that has ears," or "giant bows," or "dressed as their favorite athlete," Sorensen said. He said no students have attended school "wearing masks or animal costumes." One parent later provided information to a news outlet that appeared to contradict the statement about masks. 

Sorensen added that the school has a policy prohibiting harassment and bullying and investigates all allegations of such behavior.

"We are committed to preventing negative behavior and fostering a respectful school community," Sorensen said. "We take harassment and bullying very seriously and investigate all claims immediately."

We contacted Kelly and received no response. 

We used local news reports, statements from Sorensen and a YouTube video of the protest to better understand what happened in Payson. 

Sorensen told news outlets that during the week of April 8, some students began name-calling and throwing food at a small group of students wearing animal-ear headbands. 

Following that incident, the school sent an April 12 message to families that said, in part, "We expect ALL students to be respectful towards each other while we are here at school," The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The message encouraged students to "treat each other with kindness," and reiterated the school’s dress code, which prohibits accessories that distract or disrupt learning, and referenced its policy against bullying.

Sorensen said he believed the message was incorrectly interpreted as school administrators taking sides, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. By April 14, signatures were collected on an online petition that asked school administrators to enforce the district’s dress code policies. 

On April 16, school administrators sent a second communication to families, according to Sorensen, The Salt Lake Tribune and KSL News. That letter explained that on April 15 teachers reminded their sixth period students about two of the district’s conduct policies:  

• "According to Nebo School District Policy JDG Dress Code Policy 3.1.8 - Jewelry, accessories, hair, and other elements of a student’s appearance that draw undue attention, distract, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with the learning atmosphere at school or at school activities and events, or that create a health, safety, or welfare issue are prohibited."  

• "Additionally, according to Policy Nebo School District Policy JDD 2.2 - A written, verbal, or a physical act that creates a hostile, threatening, humiliating, or abusive environment is not permitted."

It said students were asked to leave at home any clothing or item that "becomes a nuisance item, a distraction to learning or creates an unsafe situation."  

The letter also addressed the discussion of a potential walkout: "While students may exercise their freedom of expression, disruptions to the school day will be handled as needed."

On April 17, about 75 students and parents gathered outside the school to protest "against the furries," according to one student who was interviewed off-camera during the protest. 

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A man named Andrew Bartholomew, whose wife is a Republican running for the Utah State School Board, posted videos of the protest on YouTube and X. 

In the YouTube video, students made claims about what the alleged furries had been doing. Often eliciting laughter from the crowd, students claimed the furries "bark every day, but they only bite like once a week," "bite ankles," "scratch us," and "spray us in the eyes with Febreze if they get a chance" after school and in the halls.

We did not find clear evidence that any students at Mount Nebo Middle School identify as furries.

A mother identified only as Alicia spoke with KSL News and said her daughter’s friend group liked to make masks and sometimes wear them to school. But she said the children stopped doing that at the school administration’s request. 

Seeming to corroborate this, one student at the protest said the principal had "banned" masks.

Sorensen told The Salt Lake Tribune he doesn’t think the students whose headband accessories were cited as the reason for the protests call themselves "furries." Sorensen also said the district’s dress code means the school can address attire or accessories that distract from student learning. 

"We promptly address distractions to learning as well as dress code violations to maintain a positive learning environment for everyone," he said.

Viral social media posts, including one from the conservative X account Libs of TikTok, sharing clips of the walkout have fueled days of bomb threats against the middle school and death threats targeting school and district staff, according to Sorensen and KSL News.

Kelly claimed Mount Nebo Middle School "allows students to be terrorized" by peers "who identify as ‘furries.’"

Some students who participated in an April 17 walkout made unverified and disputed claims that other students pretending to be animals had bitten or scratched them. 

It’s difficult to say what did or didn’t happen in the school, but a district spokesperson said the school has seen no incidents of biting, licking, costumes or animalistic behavior.

The district has a dress code prohibiting accessories that might cause distractions and policies to prevent harassment and bullying. This behavior is not permitted.

We rate the claim False.

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