Police in Springfield, Ohio, reportedly deny viral claims that Haitian immigrants eat pets
Top line
Police in Springfield, Ohio, reportedly say they have not received any allegations that Haitian immigrants kidnapped and ate pets, despite Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) and other influential right-wing extremists spreading such claims, apparently falsely based on an incident in another Ohio city.
JD Vance claimed on X that Haitian immigrants in Springfield eat pets. (Photo by Olivier … (+)
Key data
The false claim appears to have originated in a Facebook post by a group in Springfield, Ohio, local news outlet Springfield News-Sun reported, and has since been parroted in other viral posts.
Police told the Springfield News-Sun that there have been no reports of pets being eaten and that the department is aware of the claims circulating on social media. However, the false claims are “not on our radar at this time” – Forbes has reached out to police for further comment.
Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, claimed in a post on X on Monday morning that “reports” show that “people have had their pets kidnapped and eaten by people who don’t belong in this country.” He was referring to the thousands of Haitian migrants who have settled in Springfield, but did not provide any specific reports.
The Springfield News-Sun reported that some viral posts have falsely linked Springfield to an incident last month in Canton, Ohio, in which a woman was arrested and charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing and eating a cat.
Who is spreading the false claims?
Vance’s Monday morning post has been viewed more than 2 million times and liked more than 50,000 times. The claims have been echoed by various right-wing commentators, including Charlie Kirk, who received more than 3 million views for a post amplifying a pet-eating claim from a Springfield Facebook group post. Kirk responded to another right-wing influencer, Ian Miles Cheong, claiming there are “many reports of Haitians eating other people’s pets” — even though the video posted by Cheong was related to the separate incident in Canton, Ohio. Stephen Miller, a former Trump adviser, has repeatedly posted about the pet-eating claims, blaming Vice President Kamala Harris since the Biden administration has offered temporary protected status to hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants. Elon Musk has also repeatedly posted about the pet eating allegations on X, formerly known as Twitter, and blamed Harris, citing an interview Harris gave to The View in which she stated that the government had offered Haitian immigrants temporary protected status because “they need support, they need protection.”
Important background
Springfield authorities estimate that 20,000 Haitian immigrants have settled in the city, most of them since the pandemic. According to the 2020 census, Springfield had a population of just over 58,000. Vance is waging a crusade against the influx of Haitian immigrants, claiming at the National Conservatism Conference in July that it is straining the housing market. The New York Times reported that the influx of immigrants has put pressure on health clinics, which saw a 13-fold increase in the number of Haitian patients between 2021 and 2023. But the Times also reported that the influx of immigrants has helped revive Springfield’s shrinking economy, and NPR reported that immigrants have opened restaurants and helped address labor shortages. Hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants have been granted temporary protected status by the Biden administration as many have escaped escalating gang violence in their home country. Tensions between locals and Haitian immigrants reportedly escalated last August when Haitian immigrant Hermanio Joseph was driving a minivan and collided with a school bus. The bus overturned, killing one child and injuring 23 others. Joseph did not have a valid U.S. driver’s license and was reportedly sentenced to nine to 13.5 years in prison in May.
Key quote
“We get these reports: ‘The Haitians are killing ducks in many of our parks,’ or ‘The Haitians are eating vegetables right off the shelf at the grocery store.’ And we haven’t really seen any of that. It’s really frustrating. As a community, that’s not helpful as we try to move forward,” Jason Via, the Springfield Police Department’s deputy director of public safety and operations, told NPR last month.
tangent
Right-wing commentators and supporters of former President Donald Trump’s campaign have used the pet-eating allegations as a rallying cry for Trump’s campaign, creating images using artificial intelligence to portray Trump as a savior of domestic cats. Musk received more than 27 million views for a post he wrote reposting an image shared by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee showing Trump hugging a cat and a duck. In another post that received more than 1 million views, Cheong shared an image of Trump running away from Haitian immigrants with cats in his hands and claimed, “Springfield has a hope.”
More information
Springfield police report no pet thefts after viral social media post (Springfield News-Sun)
How an Ohio town found itself in the middle of the immigration debate (New York Times)
How Springfield, Ohio, was at the center of the immigration debate (NPR)
