The Allegation that Is a Cat is an Immigrant: An Online Critique of the Left-Right Movement in Springfield, Ohio
There are reports from both the Daily Mail and the Infowars who published posts about people eating pets and wildlife. Both publications reference a Facebook post in which someone claims their neighbor’s daughter’s friend lost her cat — and later found it “hanging from a branch, like you’d do a deer for butchering,” outside a house “where Haitians live.” There are no reports of pets being stolen and eaten in the Springfield area according to the police.
Donald Trump and JD Vance use the same dehumanizing language to describe immigrants. Accusations of immigrants being criminals, rapists, 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.
Still, the Springfield pet situation is a particularly instructive example of how right-wing media often launders and mainstreams obvious misinformation. A rumor that was spreading for at least a month was amplified by conservative social media stars, including Sen. Ted Cruz, and immigration obsessives like Elon Musk who mainstreamed it.
The News-Sun pointed out that a woman was arrested for eating a cat in public in Canton, Ohio, 175 miles away from Springfield. Ian Miles Cheong suggested that the woman who ate the cat was from Haiti.
Haitian immigrants in Springfield have been the targets of rumors for some time, as NPR reported last month. Republican committee woman Glenda Bailey is one of the strongest voices against Haitian migration, accusing the community of having diseases, carrying out rituals and being involved in gangs. She’s also spoken at length about the Great Replacement theory, the belief that there is a movement to replace white populations in current white-majority countries. She says that some of the Haitians are gang members. I’ve seen them before. They are now the occupiers. In Ohio they have replaced the population in Springfield.
The now-refuted claim appears to have gotten its start online in early August, when a user with the screenname “bri ory” on the far-right social platform Gab commented on photos of members of the white supremacist neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe marching through Springfield protesting Haitian migrants and carrying swastika flags. The commenter claimed that once a group of people swarm in to a town animals start to disappear.
Right-wing misinformation campaigns about migrants are not limited to Springfield. A video showing armed men trying to get into an apartment went online last month, and some conservative commentators claimed that members of a gang from Venezuela had taken over the apartment complex in Colorado. End Wokeness claimed gang members had begun collecting rent in a second building. The apartment complexes were under siege by Venezuela’s gang members, according to City Journal. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman later said “criminal elements” had taken over buildings in the city, and were extorting residents. Former President Donald Trump parroted the reports, saying Venezuelans were “taking over the whole town.”
Some senders called themselves the victim of Springfield after accusing her of being a crime against humanity for defending Haitian immigrants.
Vance’s post drew condemnation from the White House. John Kirby, White House spokesman, said to reporters on Tuesday that “You’ve got elected officials in the Republican party pushing yet another conspiracy theory that’s about seeking to divide people based on lies and using an element of racism.”
Anti-Hamiltonian Emails & Disturbations: Sensitivities Against Rassism toward the Haitian Community
NPR reached out to several activists in the Haitian community of Springfield Ohio, and has not heard of instances of direct harassment. The Springfield Police Department has not responded to NPR’s questions.
In the decade she has been the leader of Springfield’s NAACP chapter, Williams said she has never experienced emails kept in her inbox at such a fast pace. In the past few months, Williams has spoken out against racism towards the Haitian community.
While spending time with her children and grandchildren, the phone started blowing up on Monday for Springfield residentDenise Williams.
“I think it’s sad that some people are using this as an opportunity to spread hate or spread fear,” says Officer Jason Via, Deputy Director of Public Safety and Operations. “We get these stories where the Haitians are eating vegetables in the grocery store or killing ducks in the parks.” And we haven’t really seen any of that. It’s really frustrating. As a community, it’s not helpful as we try to move forward.”
But on X, Republican politicians and far right social media influencers continued to amplify the narrative. “Cat Lives Matter!” wrote Tom Tiffany (R-Wisc.) Andy Biggs was in attendance and posted, ” Protect America’s pets!”
Source: JD Vance spreads debunked claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets
The City of Springfield, the third largest city in the United States, has seen its share of emigrants over the last four years
The city of Springfield, a small one that has a population of 60,000 people, has absorbed from 15,000 to 20,000 migrants in the last four years and has created tension as it tries to absorb so many newcomers.