Erika Lee is one of the people who posted a hoax on Facebook about a missing cat in Springfield, Ohio, allegedly stolen by Haitian immigrants. Lee has already deleted it and says he regrets writing it, but the hoax is now out of his control: former President Donald Trump used it in an election debate, his running mate continues to say it’s true, and in the meantime, in Springfield, threats are being made against Haitians who have emigrated to the city.
“It blew up and became something I didn’t intend for it to happen,” Lee told NBC News. Lee didn’t intend for a Facebook comment to trigger Trump’s comment about immigrants stealing animals from Springfield to eat, nor did he intend for him to use the viral effect of another of the images that support the latest Republican campaign lie. Another version of the hoax shows a man with a dead goose, but multiple U.S. media outlets have verified that it’s not possible to tell if it’s a Haitian immigrant and that the photo was taken in Springfield, but in another city, Columbus.
The result, less than a week later, is that several local schools and buildings are closed due to bomb threats, including City Hall, and Wittenberg University in Springfield has had to take “extreme precautions.” The university said it received an email Saturday threatening a possible shooting on campus the next day. The message was “intended for Haitian members” of the community, the institution said.
Another local campus received the same threat, and both events are being investigated by Wittenberg police, Springfield police and the FBI. The threats have prompted all students, faculty and staff to “exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings.” Additionally, all activities and sporting events for the weekend have been canceled.
“University administrators acknowledge that the City of Springfield has experienced an increase in threats against local government, businesses and schools over the past week,” the statement concluded.
This Sunday, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said on CNN that the claims about Haitian migrants are based on what his constituents tell him they experience “firsthand.” Additionally, he said he has evidence that “immigrants are catching geese in the local park pond and eating them.”
Police deny Republican candidates’ version of events
Contrary to Vance’s version, that of the local police: “In response to recent rumors that there is criminal activity on the part of the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible cases or complaints of damage to domestic animals.” injured or mistreated by individuals from the immigrant community, said a statement quoted by Reuters.
Police also said another video circulating on social media showing the arrest of a woman accused of killing and eating cat meat matches an arrest in Canton, Ohio, and that the detainee is not an immigrant “but a longtime local resident.”
Asked about the threats to the people of Springfield, Vance said what puts residents at risk is that they can’t afford housing and hospitals are overflowing “because Kamala Harris allowed 20,000 Haitian immigrants to be brought to a small town in Ohio.”
Located in southwest Ohio and home to about 60,000 people, Springfield has seen an influx of about 10,000 Haitians in recent years seeking work. Trump has said that if elected president, his plan to carry out the “largest deportation in the history of the country” would begin in Springfield, Ohio, bound for Venezuela.
Biden denounces attacks on Haitian community
Last Friday, US President Joe Biden denounced threats against the Haitian community across the country since Trump repeated the hoaxes during the election debate with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. “The Haitian-American community is under attack in our country right now. It’s wrong. There’s no place (for it) in the United States. ‘What he’s doing has to stop, it has to stop!’” Biden said.
The Democratic leader dismissed the hoaxes and threats without mentioning Trump at the start of a White House event to commemorate the excellence of the African-American community in the country. His speech was preceded by that of presidential spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, who is of Haitian origin.
Harris has reiterated in the past the need to “support and protect” Haitian immigrants living in the country. In 2021, the United States extended protection to some 150,000 Haitian refugees by extending the program that prevents their deportation and extends their work permits because they cannot safely return to their home countries.
