No, Haitian Immigrants Are Not Eating Pet Cats

if it turns out to be true I'm quite sure that there will be plenty of people proclaiming loudly how Trump was right after all.

Will the Dispatch be printing a retraction? Will it be posted here at SI and everywhere the original article was shared? For that matter, would it even make a difference in the minds of those who've already decided that this is just anti-immigrant bigotry and another example of one of Trump's lies?

The problem is that we've seen this story play out many times over, and by the time the truth is known, everyone has moved on, the damage has been done, and no one cares about it anymore. But I'm told that the real problem is systemic bigotry within the GOP.

Listen, if it is found out that a common practice of the Haitian immigrants in Springfield Ohio are eating people's pets, than I will be the first one to apologize and I will send out Starbuck gift cards to the others on this thread defending Trump's statement. I promise!

I feel pretty confident, because 1) it is a common diatribe that Trump has used (immigrants eating pets), and it plays into bigotted statements going back hundreds of years in this country around what immigrants eat. 2) the Mayor of Springfield, the Chief of Police of Springfield and the Governor of Ohio has stated that there is no proof that this has happened, 3) JD Vance has claimed that currently it is unfounded, and 4) the entire story has been traced to a single facebook post that paid conservatives were told to promote.

It is comedic, because of all of the challenges we face with immigration, one of the key reasons that Trump could give during a national debate with very precious time commitments, was to say that we need better border protection because the immigrants in Springfield Ohio eat people's pets and they are coming for our own pets. Ignoring the fact that the vast majority if not all of the immigrants in Springfield Ohio are here legally. Trump can't really articulate the immigration problem (I have never seen him do it), but he can throw out tons of conspiracy theories and bigoted statements against those who don't look or act like us. If he can't articulate the problem appropriately and lay out a well devised plan, than he should just shut his mouth, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

But I'm told that the real problem is systemic bigotry within the GOP.

Here is a short documentary/satire that shows how easily it can by to fall into systemic bigotry. I think it would do us all well to watch this and to be careful about the stereotypes we tend to latch onto.

(1) Nicole Shanahan on X: "Who really are the MAGA People? https://t.co/Zk6rvijCge" / X

Considering the headline of the article and the aggressive fact-checking going on, this is indeed the real issue. When the full story comes out in a few weeks, if I turns out that immigrants (legal or otherwise) are poaching in city parks and skinning cats, I will be looking in vain for retractions from all the fact-checkers. Unfortunately, by then the world will have moved on, and the damage will have been done. That's how it usually seems to work.

The reason why the Dispatch fact-checker was so straightforward and blunt with its headline and aggressive fact-checking is because it was based on rumor and hearsay and not actual evidence.

The woman whose social media post helped ignite false claims of pets being eaten in Springfield, Ohio, said Friday the post was based on a rumor and that she feels remorse for the Haitian immigrants.

Erika Lee, a Springfield resident, recently authored a post on Facebook, saying that her neighbor’s cat was lost and she was told it was because the pet was attacked by a Haitian immigrant.

Kimberly Newton, Lee’s neighbor, acknowledged this week to NewsGuard, “I don’t actually know the person who lost the cat.” Newton added that the cat’s owner was “an acquaintance of a friend.”

So far, every attempt to link Haitian Immigrants in Springfield through pictures and videos to pet-eating or wild-life killing (geese) has been debunked due to the wrong city (Columbus, Dayton, Canton) wrong racial ethnic groups (American-born African Americans, and African Immigrants) and wrong stories/circumstances. One conservative media pundit is even offering rewards of $5,000 to produce proof (which found an African Immigrant barbecuing one of his own cats in Dayton Ohio)

Reporting an allegation based on rumor and hearsay and then trying to find the proof to substantiate the claim is slander, gossip, and deceit and basically yellow journalism. Trump, Vance, and the GOP repeating those claims as fact is bearing false witness. Sadly, our post-truth, post-modern American culture has permeated all people, whether conservative or progressive, or whether Christian or non-Christian.

Even if it turns out to be true in a few weeks or so, it shouldn't have been reported because it lacked credible evidence, just like both the Springfield City Manager and Police claimed. The ends never justify the means. We don't do or even support evil so that good may come (Romans 3:8). This is a form of consequentialist ethics that should be condemned by every bible-believing Christian.

In this case, the Dispatch did their due diligence in their fact-checking. Remember, the burden of proof is with those who are make the allegations in the first place. I'm not saying that the Dispatch or CNN, or Factcheck.org, or Political Fact aren't biased or haven't gotten it wrong. They have. But in this case, those of you pointing the finger at the fact-checkers has 3 fingers pointing back at the conservative journalists and media pundits who thought they had a smoking gun, even though it was based on rumor and hearsay, which is on the same level as the National Enquirer when it comes to journalistic integrity.

"It's not Haitians, it's African immigrants."

"It wasn't Springfield, it's another city in Ohio."

Is that supposed to prove the fact-checkers, right? It sounds like there's a significant problem with migrants poaching in Ohio, but let's pretend the real problem is the racist Republicans who shared some comical memes on social media.

Well Trump’s answer is to deport them. Not solve the situation. Not sure how he will deport legal immigrants. But hey, it is a good sound byte. Wish the Democrats and Biden didn’t create this mess! Oh wait wasn’t there a bipartisan bill that was about to be approved that would help with the impact of legal immigrants? Yes there was. To bad Trump pushed the Republicans to not approve it, even though they launched it. I guess if they were able to fix some of these issues before election it wouldn’t have helped Trump’s story any. I guess if his plan is going to now start deporting legal immigrants I will have to make plans for my wife.

Whether or not the story is true isn't even the point. Trump purposefully uses these stories to stoke anger and provoke outrage in his followers. He encourages and promotes xenophobia constantly, including in almost every time he got to speak at the debate. Clearly he believes that stoking xenophobia and racism is creating support for himself among his base. So maybe there is some systemic racism and xenophobia in Republicans, at the very least among the MAGA brand of Republican. And when I hear Christians claim that isn't descriptive of them, but they can't find a negative word to say about Trump, it kind of falls on deaf ears for me. And it does for many non-Christian observers as well.

"It's not Haitians, it's African immigrants."

"It wasn't Springfield, it's another city in Ohio."

Is that supposed to prove the fact-checkers, right? It sounds like there's a significant problem with migrants poaching in Ohio, but let's pretend the real problem is the racist Republicans who shared some comical memes on social media.

There was a mentally ill non-immigrant black woman that was born and raised in Canton Ohio that ate her cat in Canton Ohio. The Picture of a non-immigrant black man holding dead geese which End Wokeness (Twitter/X) used to spread the rumors about Haitian Immigtants killing pets and local wildlife was confirmed as a picture of man from Columbus Ohio holding two dead geese was actually roadkill that he was disposing of. End Wokeness, instead of owning up to his slander, told the world that its spreading to neighboring cities. He wasn't making a comical meme. The African Immigrant in Dayton Ohio BBQing a cat may or may not be a cat. Its a strong possibility that it is a squirrel. He had several cats of his own wandering around the property. Even me assuming that it was a cat was wrong on my part.

You realize that Trump, Vance, and many other GOP politicians are doubling down on the fabricated Springfield story? Vance lied in his interview by stating (1) that the Haitians are illegal, and (2) that he was responding to first hand accounts of Springfield residents losing their pets to Haitian immigrants (which was disproved when Erika Lee and Kimberly Newton fessed up to spreading rumors) and then Vance justifies the whole thing by claiming that their claims finally gave attention to the immigration problem in Springfield. This is evil consequentialist ethics where an evil deed is done (lying, slandering Haitian Immigrants) for a greater good.

If you want to minimize it as just some fun-loving Republicans creating funny memes, go right ahead. But there are significant numbers of conservative Christians that are doubling down with Trump, Vance, and certain GOP politicians.

I'm old enough to remember in the mid 1990s in Seminary being warned about the post-truth post-modern culture that was coming. In many ways the warning was framed as a secular progressive trend that could envelop evangelicalism. When the trendy emergent church came about with its progressivism, most conservative evangelicals/fundamentalists rightly discerned it as post-modern thought and rejected it. When deconstructionism became the trend around COVID, many conservative evangelicals/fundamentalists rightly discerned it to be post-modern thought and also rejected it. However, when Trumpism politics embraced the same post-truth, post-modern ethics (at a very popular level) as their secular progressive counterparts, critical thinking goes out the window and lies/slander is tolerated and even embraced in the name of the greater good, which is to stop the evil coming from the evil democrats.

Exactly Joel. How can evangelicals claim the moral high ground when we are doubling down on known lies. How can we stand for truth. Lets call it like it is. That doesn't mean we have to brush immigration concerns under the rug, but lets hold our leaders accountable, not play in the mud with them. Our focus in this world is not to stand with Trump and American politics, it is to share the gospel. How can we in good faith proclaim truth while at the same time spouting out lies and nonsense.

While this may seem like funny cat meme's, people's live are now in danger in Springfield as a result of this. Kids are getting rushed out of classes in fear of bomb threats, solely on the basis of Trump's rhetoric. Sad day.

The problem is that we've seen this story play out many times over, and by the time the truth is known, everyone has moved on, the damage has been done, and no one cares about it anymore. But I'm told that the real problem is systemic bigotry within the GOP.

Trump throws out sensational claims in an attempt to stoke hatred against immigrants, and then we're supposed to worry about the "damage" being done to Trump because he's being fact checked?

Are we at all worried about the damage Trump is doing by making these statements?

Here is what is happening in Springfield as a result of Trump/Vance:

Trump's Hate is No Joke

It quickly became a vast internet joke, fueling thousands of hilarious memes and songs. But it’s no laughing matter. Trump’s claim has already provoked threats of violence.

Over the weekend, two hospitals in Springfield were locked down after bomb threats, police said. Other threats received by Springfield officials have forced government buildings to close, two elementary schools to be evacuated and the students moved to a different location, and a middle school to shut down altogether.After JD Vance first began spreading baseless rumors about Haitians in Springfield, members of the neo-Nazi group “Blood Tribe” marched into the city carrying guns, wearing body armor, and carrying Neo-Nazi flags. At an August 27 town hall meeting, one claimed that the city had been taken over by “degenerate third worlders,” blamed Jews for the influx, and warned that “crime and savagery will only increase with every Haitian you allow in.”

Springfield’s Haitian immigrants say they are afraid. Some have kept their children home from school, fearing violence. Others have reported harassment on the street, in their cars, and at stores.

Another of Trump’s bogus claims is now threatening legal immigrants in Aurora, Colorado, a Denver suburb that Trump has repeatedly asserted is being “taken over” by Venezuelan criminals. “Simply not true,” Aurora’s Republican mayor and city council member wrote in a joint statement.

As in Springfield, Trump’s baseless claims are harming innocent people in Aurora. Immigrants there say they have been told their nationality makes them ineligible for jobs or housing. Trump’s claims have led to threats and drawn armed groups to the city, claiming to offer vigilante-style protection.

In demonizing and dehumanizing migrants, Trump and Vance are not just seeking to win over a few wavering voters across the nation or making a play for control of the Senate. They are trying to scare America into becoming a more fearsome, more racist nation.

“They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump said of immigrants at a rally in New Hampshire eight months ago, virtually quoting Adolf Hitler (who wrote in Mein Kampf that “All great cultures of the past perished only because the originally creative race died out from blood poisoning.”)

In a last-ditch effort to prevail in their campaign, Trump and Vance are encouraging the haters. On September 10, Vance told his followers to “keep the cat memes flowing,” notwithstanding that they were endangering people in his own state.

My parents live in Springfield. I asked them about the report that Haitian immigrants are eating pets. They said it was a terrible rumor that isn't true. What isn't a rumor is that ducks have disappeared from the public parks in Springfield and signs reading, "don't eat the ducks" were posted. However, no one is sure who was eating the ducks.

The biggest issues with the Haitian immigrants, according to my parents, are that they don't know / follow the traffic laws and that they have caused the city's public safety and education resources to be stretched thin.

"they have caused the city's public safety and education resources to be stretched thin"

That is less a problem with Hatian Immigrants, or immigrants as a whole and more about rapid growth. I live in an area that is experiencing rapid growth with very little to no immigration and the city's public safety and education resources are stretched thin. We opened a brand new school, and within the first week of it being opened, it was already overcrowded and they had to erect 20 modular buildings on the lawn to accommodate the kids. We are a wealthy community, that pays taxes and high property taxes, and yet we can't open schools to keep up with the growth.

The public in general needs to stop looking at this as an immigrant problem, as it is faced in many areas across the US.

"We have received at least 33 separate bomb threats," DeWine told a news conference in the city.

They were all hoaxes, he said, adding that some of them have come from a foreign country, which he did not name.

https://www.ibtimes.com/town-center-us-migrant-conspiracies-hit-33-bomb-threats-3743521

T. Howard. Thank you for posting. I was just thinking yesterday about asking if anyone on SI had family or friends there. With all the questions about the media, politicians, and who to believe, it is good to get some first hand accounts. Regardless of where the truth lies, it is good to remember not to dehumanize people whether they be immigrants (legal or not) or whether they be Trump or Harris supporters.

One interesting thing that I've heard is that the town is now home of 20,000 Haitians, but in the Census demographics, I don't see any big shift to African descent or mixed race--but Haiti is something like 95% blacks + more who are mixed race.

If indeed there are 20,000 resettled refugees in a town only three times that size, I've got to question, though, what the thinking was in DHS/ICE. 1/3 refugees would give Springfield similar poverty statistics to that of Gary, IN--the Census data already indicates that family status is similar--which could become really bad. Thankfully the immigrant influx starting around 2014 (however big it was) is not reflected in things like crime rates.

A lot of things are not adding up.