Unpacking Trump’s Claims About The Haitian Immigrants In Springfield Ohio

The presidential debate on September 10, 2024, sparked intense discourse on immigration issues in the country, which is a common occurrence. What made this debate unique, however, was on the subject matter at hand.

Echoing a viral post with unsubstantiated claims, Former President Donald Trump slammed the Democrats’ position on immigration, stating, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Trump’s comment stemmed from a post that stated:

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 neighbor’s 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 on these animals.

Springfield, Ohio, has been facing challenges because of the influx of immigrants, as the city is home to about 15,000 legal Haitian immigrants. However, Springfield officials maintain that there is no evidence to support the claims that Haitian immigrants have been abducting and eating pets is false.

A viral post by @EndWokeness on X (formerly Twitter) referenced the post above, which was accompanied by a picture of a Black man carrying a goose by its feet. The post was captioned: “Springfield is a small town in Ohio. 4 years ago, they had 60k residents. Under Harris and Biden, 20,000 Haitian immigrants were shipped to the town. Now ducks and pets are disappearing.”

Local officials have denied the claims in the post, with Springfield Mayor Rob Rue maintaining that “we have not been able to verify any credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

Regarding the photo of the Black man holding the goose, CBS News interviewed the person who took the photo. He maintained that the picture was taken in Columbus, Ohio, on July 28, 2024. CBS News verified the information.

While the claims about Haitian immigrants consuming pets and wildlife may be unsubstantiated, an Ohio woman is currently in court after she was arrested for killing and eating a cat. 27-year-old Allexis T. Ferrell was arrested on August 16, 2024, in the 1100 block of 13th Street SE in Canton, Ohio.

In a bodycam footage released by The Canton Police Department on September 11, witnesses can be heard telling police that Ferrell was eating the cat. According to a police report, Ferrell “smashed the cat’s head with her foot and then began to eat the cat.”

Ferrell is charged with prohibitions concerning companion animal, cruelty to animals, and disorderly conduct. She is held on a $100,000 bond. As the story resurfaced, some claimed that Ferrell was Haitian. However, the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office revealed that she is a U.S. citizen. Ferrell is to appear in Stark County Common Pleas Court on October 15, 2024, for a competency hearing.