How the Trump Campaign Ran With Rumors About Pet-Eating Migrants—After Being Told They Weren’t True

Timeline of unsubstantiated claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio

Trump’s Lie Is Another Test for Christian America

“If we’re willing to see children terrorized because of a false rumor about Haitian immigrants, we should ask who abducted our conscience, not someone’s pet.”

Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio: Why they chose this city

“For the last five years, many immigrants from Haiti have moved to Springfield, Ohio, and the number continues to grow.

Some have said there are around 15,000-20,000 in the city, which has a total population of about 60,000. The influx has caused strain to government resources in Springfield and on the schools and nonprofits that offer assistance.

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Most are in the city legally and have or are eligible for Temporary Protected Status, a federal immigration designation that allows them to legally live and work in the U.S. Some have an asylum claim pending and, like immigrants across the nation, face a severely backlogged immigration system that is complicated and the subject of heated political rhetoric.”

‘It just exploded’: Springfield woman claims she never meant to spark false rumors about Haitians

“The woman behind an early Facebook post that helped spark baseless rumors about Haitians eating pets told NBC News that she feels for the immigrant community.”

“SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The woman behind an early Facebook post spreading a harmful and baseless claim about Haitian immigrants eating local pets that helped thrust a small Ohio city into the national spotlight says she had no firsthand knowledge of any such incident and is now filled with regret and fear as a result of the ensuing fallout.

“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” Erika Lee, a Springfield resident, told NBC News on Friday.

Lee recently posted on Facebook about a neighbor’s cat that went missing, adding that the neighbor told Lee she thought the cat was the victim of an attack by her Haitian neighbors.”

“Other posts have also contributed to the false allegations, including a photo of a man holding a dead goose that was taken in Columbus, Ohio, but was spread by some online as evidence of the claims about Springfield. Graphic video of a woman who allegedly killed and tried to eat a cat was also found not to have originated in Springfield but in Canton, Ohio, and does not have any connection to the Haitian community.

Local police and city officials have repeatedly said there is no evidence of such crimes in Springfield, but that hasn’t stopped the lies from spreading across the country and igniting a national frenzy that landed on the presidential debate stage this week. Former President Donald Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who was born less than an hour away from Springfield, have repeated the baseless allegations.

Lee said she never imagined her post would become fodder for conspiracy theories and hate.

“I’m not a racist,” she said through heavy emotion, adding that her daughter is half Black and she herself is mixed race and a member of the LGBTQ community. “Everybody seems to be turning it into that, and that was not my intent.””

More threats in Springfield, Ohio: ‘We need help, not hate,’ mayor says

“A new round of bomb threats have targeted three medical facilities and an unspecified fourth facility in Springfield, Ohio, on Saturday, officials said.

The facilities have been swept and cleared, with some already reopened, a police official told ABC News.

Springfield Regional Medical Center, Ohio Valley Surgical Hospital and Kettering Health Springfield were listed by authorities as targets.

The Springfield Police Division has beefed up its staffing as it deals with threats stemming from unsubstantiated claims about the Haitian migrant community.

Wittenberg University, a small private liberal arts college in Springfield, canceled all activities scheduled for Sunday due to a threat that “targeted Haitian members of our community,” the university said in an alert on Saturday.”

“The mayor said there’s a lot of fear in Springfield in the wake of the threats.

“This is a very concerning time for our citizens, and frankly, a lot of people are tired of just, you know, the things that have been spread about our community that are just negative and not true. We need help, not hate,” Rue told ABC News on Friday.

The mayor said he believes these threats are directly connected to the baseless rumors spread online in the wake of viral social media posts claiming Haitian migrants were abducting people’s pets in Springfield order to eat them. The rumors were amplified by right-wing politicians, including former President Donald Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said at Tuesday night’s presidential debate. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

A spokesperson for the city of Springfield told ABC News these claims are false, and that there have been “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.”

MORE: Springfield, Ohio, parents ask Trump and Vance to stop using their child as ‘political tool’

“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes,” the spokesperson said. “Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”

The mayor added, “Your pets are safe in Springfield.””

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine pushes back on fake migrant story amplified by Trump: “The internet can be quite crazy”

Washington — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, distanced himself from former President Donald Trump’s false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating people’s pets. 

“This is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes,” DeWine told CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on Wednesday. 

DeWine said he trusts city officials, who have said they have not received any credible reports of such conduct. 

“Mayor [Rob] Rue of Springfield says, ‘No, there’s no truth in that.’ They have no evidence of that at all. So, I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows his city, ” DeWine said.

The baseless rumors have been amplified in recent days by Trump and his allies. Trump repeated the claim during Tuesday’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. 

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in — they’re eating the cats,” he said. “They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.” 

Earlier in the week, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, shared the claim on social media, saying, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” 

DeWine defended the thousands of Haitian migrants who are living in Springfield, but noted there are challenges that come with 15,000 migrants settling in city with a population of less than 60,000 in the last couple of years. 

“These Haitians came in here to work because there were jobs, and they filled a lot of jobs. And if you talk to employers, they’ve done a very, very good job and they work very, very hard,” he said. “

Springfield police say no reports of pets stolen, eaten, after viral social media post

“The Springfield Police Division said Monday they have received no reports related to pets being stolen and eaten.

A social media post originally from a Springfield Facebook group went viral nationally in recent days. The original poster did not cite first-hand knowledge of an incident. Instead they claimed that their neighbor’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat and found it hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbor’s home being carved up to be eaten.”

False rumors about Springfield, Ohio immigrants eating pets old fears, new media driven

“It is a tale as old as time: Dividing and conquering by using foreigners and outsiders to scare those fearful of change.

It happened during the first century when the Emperor Nero blamed Christians for Rome catching fire, rather the abysmal conditions under which most Romans lived.

It happened at the turn of the 20th century when American nativists viewed Irish, Italian and eastern European immigrants, and even Catholics, as unwashed hordes who would sully the nation’s culture.

Even Abraham Lincoln, who hated slavery but rejected the idea of social equality, tried to convince Black leaders that emancipated slaves would be better off restarting their lives in Liberia, Africa. But the group made it clear to Lincoln that people who helped to build the only country they’ve ever known were not about to leave it.”

“A photo accompanying the story is a perfect example of how such misinformation is being weaponized. The image of a man carrying a dead goose was taken in Columbus, not Springfield, and offers no context, no explanation of why he has the animal.”

Online posts about Springfield also have been conflated with an actual incident that occurred in Canton, in which a woman with potential mental illness was arrested after being accused of killing and eating a cat.

None of this matters to people who still believe pets are being eaten in Springfield.

The Truth Behind That Columbus Goose Photo That’s Fueling Right-Wing Misinformation

A photo of a man holding a dead goose has been circulating online, fueling a wave of misinformation about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.

The image, originally taken in Columbus, has been weaponized by several prominent right-wing figures, including GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance, Senator Ted Cruz, and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk, as so-called evidence that Haitian immigrants are responsible for killing and eating pets and wildlife in Springfield.

The lies were even repeated last night by former President Trump during the presidential debate.”

“The man who took the viral photo has come forward, clarifying that it was captured in Columbus, not Springfield, and that the individual holding the goose was not Haitian.

He explained that he took the picture on July 28 because it was an unusual sight—nothing more. “I was driving down Cleveland Avenue and saw a guy carrying a dead goose. It was odd, so I snapped a photo,” he told NBC4, requesting to remain anonymous for safety reasons. “I didn’t expect it to blow up like this, and I certainly didn’t intend for it to be used against any group of people.””

JD Vance spreads debunked claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets

“Using dehumanizing language to describe immigrants is nothing new for former President Donald Trump or vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Accusations of immigrants being criminals, being rapists or poisoning the blood of the nation have become common currency. But this week, the rhetoric seemed to hit a new low: the allegation that immigrants eat pets.

Vance, who represents Ohio in the U.S. Senate, spread a debunked claim about Haitian migrants living in the city of Springfield, Ohio, on Monday, accusing them of abducting pets and eating them.

The claim, which local police say is baseless, was made by far-right activists, local Republicans and neo-Nazis before being picked up by Vance. A well-known advocate for the Haitian community says she received a wave of racist harassment in the aftermath of Vance’s post.

Vance made the claim as part of a political attack against Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. On the social media site X, Vance wrote, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” He was referring to a label Republicans have pinned on Harris, who was tasked by President Biden with working to examine the root causes of migration from Central America.”

Ohio police have ‘no credible reports’ of Haitian immigrants harming pets, contradicting JD Vance’s claim

“Vance wrote on X that “people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” Police say they haven’t seen evidence.”

“The Springfield Police Division said in a statement that they were aware of the “rumors” and had no information to support them. 

“In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” the police said in a statement emailed to NBC News. 

They added that they had no information to support similar assertions about immigrants squatting or disrupting traffic. 

“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic,” the police said. 

After NBC News asked the Vance campaign about the lack of evidence for his claim, a spokesperson said that the senator had received “a high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield” and that “his tweet is based on what he is hearing from them.” 

The spokesperson did not say, however, whether any of those calls or emails had included evidence of violence against pets, and did not offer proof of Vance’s statements.”

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