- Kevin Roberts allegedly admitted to killing a barking dog in 2004
- Multiple colleagues recall Roberts sharing the disturbing story at NMSU
- Roberts denies the allegations, calling them baseless and false
Kevin Roberts, the architect behind Project 2025—a right-wing policy manifesto advocating for increased immigrant deportations if Donald Trump is re-elected—allegedly told university colleagues two decades ago that he killed a neighbor’s dog with a shovel. This claim comes from former colleagues who worked with Roberts when he was a history professor at New Mexico State University (NMSU) around 2004.
According to Kenneth Hammond, the chair of the university’s history department at the time, Roberts openly discussed the incident in the hallway with faculty. He allegedly said the dog’s constant barking was disturbing his family, including a newborn, leading him to “lose it” and take a shovel to the pit bull. Hammond said, “End of problem,” recalling Roberts’s account. Two others—a professor and her spouse—also recall hearing a similar story from Roberts at a dinner at his home.
Despite these multiple accounts, Roberts denies ever killing the dog. Roberts dismissed the story as “patently untrue and baseless.” He explained that in 2004, a neighbor’s pit bull attempted to jump a fence while he was gardening with his daughter but was restrained by the owner before it could attack.
Former colleagues noted that Roberts, a staunch conservative in a mostly liberal academic environment, had already positioned himself as something of an outsider. Hammond stated that Roberts’s colleagues found the alleged admission unsettling, and no one asked for further details about the incident. Another colleague, Marsha Weisiger, now a professor at the University of Oregon, recalled being stunned by Roberts’s story when he shared it with her and her husband over dinner. Roberts allegedly also mentioned considering killing the dog’s puppies.
The story’s resurfacing has heightened scrutiny of Roberts, now president of the Heritage Foundation, especially as Project 2025 gains attention. The 900-page report lays out radical policy proposals for a potential second Trump administration, including eliminating the Department of Education and further restricting abortion rights. Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have distanced themselves from the report, despite Vance’s praise for Roberts’s influence on the conservative movement.
In a separate but related controversy, Trump and Vance have been linked to false and xenophobic claims that Haitian immigrants in Ohio have been killing and eating pets. These unfounded allegations have stirred tensions and resulted in multiple bomb threats against the Springfield community.
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Roberts’s former neighbor, Daniel Aran, whose mother still lives next to the house Roberts occupied in Las Cruces, confirmed that his dog, Loca, went missing around 2004. Aran, who bred pit bulls, said Loca had been his favorite dog and disappeared mysteriously. While he cannot confirm whether Roberts was responsible, he noted the timing matched. Aran also disputed Roberts’s claim that animal control authorities had taken away several dogs from the property, stating that the family never had issues with animal services and that Loca was the only dog they lost during that time.
Aran expressed disbelief when hearing the alleged account of Roberts killing the dog. He acknowledged that his dogs could be noisy, but noted that Roberts had never acted disrespectfully toward him. Aran’s mother, Norma Noriega, also denied Roberts’s assertion that animal control removed the dogs, maintaining that they were diligent in keeping track of their pets.
Roberts’s recollection of the event remains contested by those who claim they heard him confess to the act. Roberts continues to hold a prominent position in the American Right, with close ties to groups like Opus Dei and advocating for staunchly conservative policies.
