Springfield Pet-eating Hoax
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Starting in September 2024, false claims spread online saying Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating pets in
Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...
. The claims began with a local
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group post claiming a neighbor's daughter's cat had been
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ed, and spread quickly among
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and
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groups. The claims were then amplified by prominent figures in the American right, most notably Republican Ohio
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and vice-presidential nominee
JD Vance James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman, August2, 1984) is an American politician, author, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran who is the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...
, followed by his running mate
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and allies such as
Laura Loomer Laura Elizabeth Loomer (born May 21, 1993) is an American far-right political activist, conspiracy theorist, and internet personality. She was the Republican nominee to represent Florida's 21st congressional district in the 2020 United S ...
and
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. Subsequently, the person who posted to Facebook and her neighbor admitted the daughter's involvement was false and it was just a rumor from a friend's acquaintance, with whom they had not spoken. Springfield and county law enforcement said that no credible reports or evidence support the claims, and the city's mayor Rob Rue and Ohio governor
Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine ( ; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th List of governors of Ohio, governor of Ohio since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served a ...
, who are both Republicans, denounced them. Fact-checking website ''
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'' called the claims unfounded, while others characterized them as a hoax or a lie. When challenged on the factual basis of the claims, Vance told interviewer
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, "If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." The claims were widely described as
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
, and they spread amid existing racial tensions in Springfield, where recent legal Haitian immigration strained some public resources. There had been previous incidents of hostility towards the local Haitian community and unfounded local rumors of Haitians stealing waterfowl for food. After the claims spread, dozens of
bomb threat A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists. History Bomb threats ...
s targeted Springfield schools, hospitals, public buildings, and businesses, often accompanied by anti-Haitian messages.
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website ''
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'' named the hoax its annual "Lie of the Year".


Background

In 1983, ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' called Springfield one of America's "dream cities," but in 2011
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referred to it as the "unhappiest city" in the country primarily due to
deindustrialization Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpr ...
, which caused substantial job losses and an exodus of residents. By 2015, its population had dwindled from about 80,000 in 1970 to under 60,000. In 2014, the city launched a "Welcome Springfield" initiative to attract immigrants to improve the local economy. The city's leadership and its Chamber of Commerce then led a drive to attract businesses and investment to spur an economic revival in Springfield. As new businesses opened and a labor shortage emerged, Haitian immigrants began arriving in Springfield in 2017 to work in local produce-
packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...
and
machining Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...
factories. By 2020, Springfield's economy had somewhat rebounded; new employers had added some 8,000 jobs, adding to the labor shortage. Employers encouraged Haitians to continue coming to the city to fill jobs in warehouses, manufacturing, and the service sector. Haitians in the United States, Haiti, and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
heard from family and friends about Springfield, its low cost of living, and its need for workers. Immigration increased substantially after the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, coinciding with deepening political and economic instability in Haiti after the assassination of the president in 2021. By 2024, some 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants, many Haitian, had legally moved to the Springfield area. In June 2024, ongoing
crises A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...
and severe violence in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
nation of
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
led the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions involv ...
to grant
temporary protected status Temporary protected status (TPS) is given by the United States government to eligible nationals of designated countries, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security, who are present in the United States. In general, the Secretary of Hom ...
to Haitian immigrants, allowing the existing migrant population in the U.S. to live and work without the risk of
deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
. While the migrants have had a positive economic impact on the city, the rapid growth of its immigrant population has strained public resources. In July 2024, Springfield city manager Bryan Heck sent a letter to the Senate Banking and Housing Committee asking for federal assistance to address the housing crisis caused by a swift expansion of population. The next day, Ohio senator JD Vance excerpted part of the letter to support an anti-immigration argument, framing it as a "migrant crisis" instead of a housing crisis, and ignoring the request for help. The increased Haitian population and resource strain fueled racial tensions in Springfield, leading to a series of attacks on the Haitian community. In early 2023, a Springfield man committed several assaults and robberies on Haitian residents and was later sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. The local Haitian church was vandalized and broken into twice. U.S.-born Black people of Springfield were verbally abused when mistakenly identified by strangers as Haitian immigrants. In August 2023, a Haitian immigrant crashed into a school bus on State Route 41 northwest of Springfield, killing an 11-year-old boy. The driver was later sentenced to nine to years in prison, but incident further inflamed racial tensions in the area and increased hostility towards the Haitian community. Later that month, the Springfield Jazz & Blues Fest was interrupted by neo-Nazis with rifles who performed
Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute, or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. The salute is performed by extending the right arm from the shoulder into the air with a straightened han ...
s and held
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flags. Local police called it "a little peaceful protest". Afterwards, a member of the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe disrupted a Springfield city meeting, introducing himself with an allusion to an anti-black slur and threatening that "crime and savagery will only increase with every Haitian you bring in". The
Counter Extremism Project The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is a non-profit non-governmental organization that combats extremist groups "by pressuring financial support networks, countering the narrative of extremists and their online recruitment, and advocating for st ...
reported that on September 1, the
white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...
Patriot Front protested against the Haitian immigrants in Springfield.


Origin and spread


Facebook post

The rumor that Haitian immigrants ate a pet cat in Springfield began in early September 2024 with a
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post to a private group called "Springfield Ohio Crime and Information", and that post was later re-posted elsewhere. The post said:
Warning to all about our beloved pets & those around us!! My neighbor informed me that her daughter’s friend had lost her cat. She checked pages, kennels, asked around, etc. One day she came home from work, as soon as she stepped out of her car, looked towards a neighbors house, where Haitians live, & saw her cat hanging from a branch, like you'd do a deer for butchering, & they were carving it up to eat. I've been told they are doing this to dogs, they have been doing it at snyder park with the ducks & geese, as I was told that last bit by Rangers & police. Please keep a close eye.
The author of the Facebook post later deleted it and expressed regret that the story fueled
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
. The neighbor who initially relayed the story to the poster said that she was not "the most credible source", and clarified that it was not her daughter's friend but just a rumor she heard from a friend's acquaintance.


Other events

Misinformation about several unrelated stories led to their being linked to the pet-eating hoax. Before the pet-eating claims gained virality, there were rumors in Springfield of Haitians eating waterfowl from city parks, which the city's deputy director of public safety and operations denied. In July, a user posted a photo to
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of a man carrying a dead
Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North A ...
on the street in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
. The goose was
roadkill Roadkill is a wild animal that has been killed by collision with motor vehicles. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how they can be mitigated. History Essenti ...
, there was no evidence that the man intended to eat it, and there was never any evidence the man was Haitian or an immigrant. More than a month after the Reddit post, right-wing sites and influencers publicized the photo, claiming it shows a Haitian immigrant stealing geese in Springfield. The
Ohio Department of Natural Resources The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is the Ohio government agency charged with ensuring "a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all." Functions ODNR regulates Ohio's oil and gas indus ...
was inundated with phone calls from people who believed the misinformation, and it became associated with the larger pet-eating hoax. In August, a 27-year-old U.S.-born woman was arrested in
Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...
, on charges that she killed and ate a cat. Police
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footage of the arrest was posted to social media and falsely labeled as an arrest in Springfield. Like the Columbus man, the Canton woman had no connection to Haiti or Springfield. The woman was later sentenced to twelve months in prison in relation to the case. On August 26,
Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...
law enforcement dispatchers received a call from someone who said they saw Haitians carrying geese near a Springfield bike trail, but police found no evidence. Clark County Commission president Melanie Flax Wilt characterized the episode as a "literal wild goose chase", and Clark County officials said no other calls regarding stolen animals had been received in the last 11 months. The following day, a Springfield resident commented at a city commission meeting, without evidence, that immigrants were "in the park grabbing up ducks by their neck and cutting their head off ... and eating them". The only confirmed report of someone illegally hunting geese in Springfield was a 64-year-old white man, who was arrested on September 10 and charged with illegally hunting Canada geese at a golf course with a shotgun; he later pled guilty to hunting without a permit.


Official response

Springfield's police department issued a statement that said "there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community". Springfield mayor Rob Rue said that there was no evidence to support claims that
geese A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egyp ...
or
duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...
s from parks were being killed and eaten. He told an interviewer, "All these federal politicians that have negatively spun our city, they need to know they're hurting our city, and it was their words that did it." City manager Bryan Heck called the rumors "
disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
". Ohio governor
Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine ( ; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th List of governors of Ohio, governor of Ohio since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served a ...
, a Republican, rebuked the rumors, saying, "This is a piece of garbage that is simply not true. There's no evidence of this at all." He also emphasized that these "people are here legally."


Amplification by Republican politicians and right-wing influencers

The initial claims based on the Facebook post went viral among American far-right, neo-Nazi groups, and popular right-wing
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accounts, such as Captive Dreamer, which presented the claims as fact. According to the Media Forensics Hub at
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, the first viral content was a tweet posted on September 6 by the account End Wokeness (linked to
alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...
commentator and conspiracy theorist
Jack Posobiec Jack Michael Posobiec III ( ; born December 14, 1984) is an American alt-right political activist, television correspondent, conspiracy theorist, and former United States Navy intelligence officer. Posobiec is known for his pro-Donald Trump c ...
), which was viewed millions of times and included a screenshot of the Facebook post, a screenshot of the Reddit photo of the man with the goose, and text linking disappearing "ducks and pets" to 20,000 Haitians "shipped to" Springfield. On September 9,
JD Vance James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman, August2, 1984) is an American politician, author, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran who is the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...
, a
U.S. senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
from Ohio and the 2024 Republican nominee for vice president, spread the claim in a tweet while referencing his July 2024 press release, writing: "Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country." A magazine profile on the Trump campaign later stated that Trump campaign staff member Alex Bruesewitz encouraged Vance to amplify the claim. One of Vance's staffers had asked Springfield's city manager Brian Heck about the claim; Heck recalled, "I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless." Vance responded to criticism of his post on September 10, writing: "In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who've said their neighbors' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false." He also encouraged supporters to continue posting and "keep the cat
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
s flowing". Right-wing influencers used Twitter to spread the claims and related memes, with
Laura Loomer Laura Elizabeth Loomer (born May 21, 1993) is an American far-right political activist, conspiracy theorist, and internet personality. She was the Republican nominee to represent Florida's 21st congressional district in the 2020 United S ...
posting about "20,000
cannibalistic Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well documente ...
Haitians" eating cats and dogs in Springfield and Texas senator
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
sharing a widely criticized meme showing two cats with the caption "Please vote for Trump, so Haitian immigrants don't eat us". The
Arizona Republican Party The Arizona Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the US state of Arizona. Its headquarters are in Phoenix. The party currently controls six of Arizona's nine U.S. House seats, seventeen of thirty State Senate seats, thi ...
purchased twelve roadside
billboards A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large out-of-home advertising, outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboard ...
in the Phoenix metro area stating "Eat less kittens, Vote Republican!", spoofing
Chick-Fil-A Chick-fil-A, Inc. ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in Chicken burger, chicken sandwiches. Headquarter ...
's "Eat Mor Chikin" advertising campaign. Elon Musk shared a variety of memes and videos including misinformation about eating pets and
Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou () is an African diasporic religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West Africa, West and ...
. Caribbean and Latin American
ethnologists Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...
interviewed by ''
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'' clarified the myth, explaining that Vodou had long been stigmatized in the U.S. since the 1915–1934 U.S. occupation of Haiti when American soldiers often interpreted Vodou rituals they observed as
Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...
. Following his running mate's promotion of this rumor, it was elevated further by Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. Bash, Dana.
Rush Transcript
”,
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(September 15, 2024): “Before Donald Trump talked about eating dogs and cats on a debate stage, it was you Senator who first elevated this rumor, these are your constituents.”
During the Harris–Trump presidential debate on September 10, Trump claimed that: "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating ut off by laughterthey’re eating the pets of the people that live there." Moderator
David Muir David Jason Muir ( ; born November 8, 1973) is an American journalist and anchor for '' ABC World News Tonight'' and co-anchor of the ABC News magazine '' 20/20'', part of the news department of the ABC broadcast-television network, based in ...
fact-checked Trump, stating that ''ABC News'' reached out to the city, whose spokesperson said there were no credible reports or specific claims of such activity. Despite many news outlets debunking or criticizing the claims after the debate, they continued to spread and expand. Loomer accused Haitian immigrants of eating humans, while sharing a video captioned "Cannibalism in Haiti".
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, herself the daughter of Haitian immigrants, responded to the comments, stating that "no leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison." Trump began repeating the debunked claim that Haitians were walking off with pet geese from the parks and lakes in Springfield. According to a poll conducted by
YouGov YouGov plc is a international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm headquartered in the UK with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. History 2000–2010 Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim ...
between 12 and September 13, 52% of Trump supporters said that the claim is "definitely" or "probably" true, 24% said they're "not sure" if it's true, and 25% said it's "probably" or "definitely" false.


Continued spread

Trump continued to include the claims as part of his campaign messaging, pledging to conduct mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from the city of Springfield, even though the majority of them are in the United States legally. He vowed to end their temporary protected status, and when questioned about the false claims, he refused to correct them.
Bernie Moreno Bernardo Moreno ( ; born February 14, 1967) is a Colombian-born American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the senior United States senator from Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, Moreno was elected in 2024, defeating Democ ...
, the Republican candidate for senate in Ohio, likewise called for deportation and for their temporary protected status to be terminated. Representative
Clay Higgins Glen Clay Higgins (born August 24, 1961) is an American politician and reserve law enforcement officer from the state of Louisiana. A Republican, Higgins is the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district. The district, which ...
repeated the hoax, calling Haitian immigrants "thugs", "slapstick gangsters" and insisting that they leave the U.S. He further called Haiti "the nastiest country in the western hemisphere". Despite Haitians being in the country legally, Vance said that he was "still going to call them an illegal alien" because he objected to the law that gave them legal status, incorrectly claiming that their legal status came from an illegal act by presidential candidate
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
. Trump has likewise called them "illegal immigrants," claiming that 30,000 were "dropped" into Springfield, and that Haitian migrants in Springfield have weapons "beyond even military scope". When the former president announced he would visit Springfield and
Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
in late September, both Governor DeWine and Mayor Rue advised against the visit, citing strained resources. Vance continued to amplify and expand the claims, posting multiple pieces of misleading evidence in support. He shared a dated video of cats roaming where skinned animals were being grilled in Dayton, Ohio, which was refuted by both the Dayton police and its mayor, while social media users responded that it appeared to just be chicken. A Vance aide gave ''
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'' a police report from a Springfield resident who said that her pet cat was missing, casting suspicion on her Haitian neighbors. But when reporters checked with the woman, she said that the missing cat, Sassy, was hiding in her basement and she had apologized to her neighbors. In a September 15 interview, Vance again defended the claims, saying they were "the first-hand accounts of my constituents", while also acknowledging that they were false, calling them a meme: "The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do." In the same interview, Vance stated that murders in Springfield were up 81% and blamed immigrants despite no Haitians being involved in any Springfield murder. Elsewhere, Vance falsely suggested that Springfield's immigrants had caused "a massive rise in communicable diseases". During the 2024 vice presidential debate,
Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...
accused Vance of vilifying legal Haitian migrants, while Vance blamed the town's situation on "Kamala Harris's open border". When the moderators ended the section by clarifying the Haitian population of Springfield were legal immigrants, Vance objected, saying that fact-checking was against the agreed upon rules.


Subsequent violence and threats

Following amplification and national news, Springfield received dozens of bomb threats accompanied by anti-Haitian messages, targeting schools, hospitals, government buildings, and businesses. On September 12, several public institutions in Springfield received bomb threats, evacuating and closing City Hall, several city and county government buildings, and two schools, Fulton Elementary and Springfield Academy of Excellence. The mayor said that the person making the threat "used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community". More bomb threats followed the next day, targeting municipal buildings as well as Perrin Woods and Snowhill elementary schools, the Cliff Park High School, and Roosevelt Middle School. On September 14, more bomb threats closed or locked down Springfield Regional Medical Center and Kettering Health Springfield. The bomb threats were sent via email "to multiple agencies and media outlets" according to the city commission office.
Wittenberg University Wittenberg University (officially Wittenberg College) is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students drawn from 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical ...
announced that all activities on campus were cancelled for the next day after receiving an emailed threat of a potential shooting targeting Haitians.
Clark State College Clark State College is a public community college in Springfield, Ohio.It opened in 1962 as Springfield and Clark County Technical Education Program. It has additional locations in Beavercreek, Bellefontaine, and Xenia. History The Springf ...
said that it received a bomb threat and a shooting threat the same weekend and would hold classes online the following week. More schools were targeted on September 16, Simon Kenton and Kenwood elementary schools, as well as the Tecumseh Local School District. The bomb threats continued on September 18 at two local
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
s, a
Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinc ...
, a
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization
clinic, and the Pregnancy Resource Center of Clark County. City officials announced the cancellation of the annual CultureFest event as a precaution. Springfield law enforcement collaborated with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
's Dayton office to investigate the threats. By September 16, Ohio governor Mike DeWine said the city had been hit by "at least 33" bomb threats, saying that many of them were coming from an unspecified country outside the US. He sent 36
Ohio State Highway Patrol The Ohio State Highway Patrol is a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and has the primary responsibility of traffic enforcement in the U.S. state of Ohio. Divisions Operationally, the Patrol is divided into units whose varying task ...
troopers to patrol Springfield schools the next day to start daily sweeps as a precaution, and a number of police surveillance towers have been placed in the city. Mayor Rob Rue made an appeal to Americans that "We need help, not hate". Later, on September 19, he declared short-term emergency powers in order to "respond more efficiently to emerging risks, including civil unrest, cyber threats, and potential acts of violence." He noted that responding to the threats is "costing the city ... hundreds of thousands of dollars". Far-right and hate groups have become more active in the area. The Blood Tribe
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
group claimed credit for spreading the hoax. The
Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right politics, far-right, Neo-fascism, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence and militancy: ...
marched in Springfield. Flyers purporting to be from the Trinity White Knights of the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
circulated, saying, "Foreigners & Haitians Out" and "Join us and stand against forced immigration." Haitian Americans and Haitian immigrants in Springfield reported verbal harassment, bullying, and vandalism stemming from the controversy. '' The Haitian Times,'' a paper that covers Haiti and Haitian Americans, reported receiving hundreds of hateful messages, and one of its editors was swatted after running a story about the impact of the hoax on Haitians in Springfield. Springfield's Haitian Community Support and Help Center and ''The Haitian Times'' had planned an in-person forum at the Center for September 14, but changed it to an online forum due to safety concerns. Springfield's mayor said that he, his family, and other city officials have gotten death threats, and some have been swatted. After speaking well of his Haitian employees to news media, a Springfield businessman received death threats, and the FBI advised him to take security precautions for himself, his family, and his business. Other towns with Haitian immigrant communities, such as
Charleroi, Pennsylvania Charleroi ( ) is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River, 21 miles south of Pittsburgh. Charleroi was settled in 1890 and incorporated in 1891. The 2020 census recorded a population of 4,210. Red ...
, have been targeted by Trump and right-wing influencers. A local
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
leader said she received a flurry of racist emails soon after JD Vance got involved. When interviewed in October, Haitian immigrants in Springfield said that they still felt fearful, and that the hate resulting from the hoax had already led some friends to move away. Asked if he would denounce the bomb threats, Trump replied, "I don't know what happened with the bomb threats. I know that it's been taken over by illegal migrants and that's a terrible thing that happened."


Reactions

The claims, variously described as debunked, false, or a conspiracy theory, have been widely characterized as a racist attempt to stoke fears or resentment of immigrants for political gain. Fact-checker ''
Snopes ''Snopes'' (), formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source ...
'' rated the rumors as "unfounded". ''
PolitiFact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...
'' named the repeated claims by Trump and Vance about the hoax its "lie of the year" for 2024. A White House spokesperson said that Republicans were making false claims "based on an element of racism", and an editor from the nearby ''
Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since '' The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication i ...
'' said these were "undeniably racist rumors." The Columbus photographer who posted the photo to Reddit of the man carrying the dead goose told ''The Columbus Dispatch'' he regretted taking the picture, saying: "I wish I never took it, for sure. And I hate that the picture that I took is being weaponized to use against immigrants, or really, any other group. They always have to have somebody to use as a weapon. Some group to be the bad guy." The father of the 11-year-old boy who was killed in the 2023 accident accused several politicians of exploiting his son's accidental death for political gain and demanded an apology from Trump and Vance for furthering a false narrative using the tragedy as a "political tool" to spur hatred towards Haitians. Vance had falsely claimed that the boy's death was a murder rather than an accident, while the Trump campaign had used images of the boy and the driver in their campaign materials. The ''
Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...
'' described the remarks as the "most laughable line out of Tuesday's debate", and humorists mocked the claims, at times citing the 1986 NBC sitcom '' ALF'' about a space alien who attempts to eat cats while
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
called it "fantasy world stuff with real world consequences". According to the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', Trump has placed a target on the back of a small group of immigrants by repeating racist disinformation which is disgraceful and deserves ridicule. South African satirical music creator The Kiffness released a song
parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
ing the hoax, titled " Eating the cats ft. Donald Trump (Debate Remix)", which quickly went viral. Another song remix by
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
user CasaD sparked viral dance trends on the platform, which led right-wing personalities like
Charlie Kirk Charles James Kirk (born October 14, 1993) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political activist, author and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist media personality. With Bill Montgomery (activist), Bill Montgome ...
to characterize the song as sincere support for Trump among members of
Generation Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2 ...
. On September 11, one day after the debate, Germany's
Federal Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the Foreign minister, foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency (Germany), federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with ...
posted a tweet that corrected Trump's false statement about its
energy transition An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainab ...
and made fun of his "eating the cats/dogs" statements. While the reactions to the post were mostly positiveit was liked more than a hundred thousand times
Norbert Röttgen Norbert Alois Röttgen (born 2 July 1965) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to 2012. A member of t ...
of the opposition Christian Democratic Union party said, "This is the official account of the Federal Foreign Office. This is very strange diplomacy", adding that "Trump could be the next president of the USA". Mayor Rob Rue criticized Trump-Vance for spreading false rumors that unfairly targeted Haitian Americans. In response to Trump's calls for deportation, Governor DeWine said that that would be both an "economic mistake" and a "moral mistake". Local faith leaders reached out to the Haitian community, lending support. Springfield residents who supported the local Haitian population held rallies and organized support of local Haitian businesses in response to the controversy. On September 13, during a "Celebration of Black Excellence" brunch event at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
said that Haitian Americans were "under attack in our country right now", describing and denouncing the false rumors and how Trump was spreading them, although not addressing the presidential candidate by name. One of the prior speakers at the event was press secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre Karine Jean-Pierre (born August 13, 1974) is an American political advisor who served as the White House Press Secretary, White House press secretary from May 2022 to January 2025, and a senior advisor to President Joe Biden from October 2024 t ...
, who has Haitian ancestry. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who is Haitian American, criticized Trump's comments, noting that Haitian immigrants contribute to the U.S. and are "committed to education, hard work, and building a better life, not just for themselves but for all of us". The National Haitian-American Elected Officials Network said that Trump's and Vance's "offensive statements" promoted "harmful
stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
s" and called on them to "engage in meaningful dialogue to address the harm caused". People in Haiti also condemned the baseless claims. Representative
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...
condemned Trump and Vance, saying that when they "intentionally distribute incredibly malicious and disgusting claims like about eating pets, etc", they put people at risk of violence. According to Secretary of Transportation
Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...
, Trump's amplification of the falsehood is a strategy to keep people talking about "the latest crazy thing that rumpdid" because "he cannot afford for us to be talking about his record (...) or his agenda", or Vance's ideas; a distraction technique that is "not harmless". Buttigieg linked it to other recent actions by Trump, such as inviting Loomer to a memorial ceremony for the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
when she had previously spread conspiracy theories about the attacks. Ohio law makes it possible for private citizens to ask “a reviewing official” such as a judge to assess whether specific crimes have been committed. On September 24, the executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance filed a bench memorandum and affidavit at the Clark County Municipal Court, alleging that Trump and Vance had committed multiple crimes, including "disrupting public services, making false alarms, two counts of complicity, two counts of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing", and asking the court to issue arrest warrants. On October 4, the case was decided with an order for its matters to be "referred to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney for further investigation and determination whether any prosecution is warranted." After Donald Trump won the
2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...
, some Haitians expressed an interest in moving out of Springfield.


Analysis

False claims about immigrants stealing and eating household pets date back more than a century in the United States. In the late 19th century, around the time of the
Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a United States Code, United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for travelers an ...
, it was among several racist stereotypes and slurs used to demonize immigrants from Asia. Professor of Sociology Anthony Ocampo told ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' that the trope is "low-hanging fruit to rally
xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
in a very quick way", making it "easier to scapegoat or enact harmful laws against" a community characterized as "savage or uncivilized". According to ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', "the goal in spreading such stereotypes is to portray newcomers as unfit for American society or invoke disgust toward them". According to
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
host
Ana Cabrera Ana Cabrera (born May 13, 1982) is an American television journalist. From 2013 to 2022, she worked as a reporter and anchor for CNN. In April 2023, she began work as a reporter again but for MSNBC Biography Cabrera was raised in a Mexican-Amer ...
, Trump deliberately amplified such stereotypes to strategically plant the seeds for a second-term immigration agenda, which would include the deportation of millions of immigrants. Cabrera also said Trump attempted to establish these American immigrants as the " other"as people who are lesser than, despite the fact that Haitians, who are in Springfield legally, have played an important role in revitalizing Springfield's economy, reversing population decline and filling labor gaps there. According to
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, citing a
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
study, Trump's pet-eating comments follow a trend of Republican Party messaging on immigration getting "more vitriolic". Theologian
Russell D. Moore Russell D. Moore (born 9 October 1971) is an American Theology, theologian, Christian ethics, ethicist, and preacher. In June 2021, he became the director of the Public Theology Project at ''Christianity Today'', and on August 4, 2022, was announ ...
noted that, from the standpoint of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, " sing praise songs in a church service while trafficking in the bearing of false witness against people who fled for their lives, who are seeking to rebuild a life for their children after crushing poverty and persecution, is more than just cognitive dissonance. It's modeling the devil himself, whom Jesus called 'the father of lies' ( Jn 8:44). That's especially true when the lies harm another person. 'Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,' the apostle John wrote, 'and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him' ( 1 Jn 3:15)." In a podcast commenting on the controversy, ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' columnist David French remarked that "
MAGA "Make America Great Again" (MAGA, ) is an American political slogan most recently popularized by Donald Trump during Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign, his successful presidential campaigns in 2016 and Donald Trump 2024 presidential cam ...
likes inflicting pain on its political enemies. It likes and enjoys creating these ridiculous and absurd memes. It loves to provoke people who are on the outside. It's part of the joy of this MAGA movement that can include this extreme aggression online." French argues that there is "lot of fun and fellowship" inside the MAGA movement, and that aggressive promotion of controversies and memes, regardless of their truthfulness, is an integral part of the movement's online social dynamic: "...the core MAGA people who are pushing the memes out, look, if it's true, great. If it's not true, who cares? They're having a good time." ''New York Times'' columnists Lydia Polgreen and
Jamelle Bouie Jamelle Antoine Bouie (; born April 12, 1987) is an American columnist for ''The New York Times''. He was formerly chief political correspondent for ''Slate''. In 2019, writing in the ''Columbia Journalism Review'', David Uberti called Bouie "o ...
both describe the hoax as a
blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...
, comparing it to the claim that Jewish people were using Christian children's blood for ceremonies, employed to enact violence on a
minority group The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...
. ''
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' (often abridged as ''Last Week Tonight'') is an American news satire late-night talk show hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show premiered in the end of April 2014 on HBO and currently has ...
'' included a segment on the hoax and situation in Springfield, detailing the chronology whereby Vance fact-checked the rumors, was aware they were false, and tried to support them with poor evidence. He went on to criticize Vance's defense that, in Oliver's words, "'If enough people say it, I repeat it'? It is not ideal when an aspiring vice president’s guiding philosophy is indistinguishable from a fucking parrot's."


See also

* * * * ** * * * * * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Springfield pet-eating hoax Controversies of the 2024 United States presidential election 2024 hoaxes 2024 in Ohio Animals in politics Anti-black racism in Ohio Anti-Haitian sentiment Anti-immigration politics in the United States Cats in the United States Conspiracy theories involving race and ethnicity Conspiracy theories promoted by Donald Trump Dog meat Dogs in the United States Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign Fake news in the United States Far-right politics in the United States Haitian-American history History of immigration to the United States Hoaxes in the United States Internet memes introduced in 2024 Political Internet memes introduced from the United States Racial hoaxes September 2024 in the United States pet-eating hoax Internet memes introduced from the United States