How could you prove that it is false? How do you prove that nobody of 15 000 people ate a cat in a whole city?
"A “false” according to power-hungry Democrats Republican talking point is causing chaos in the small city of Springfield, Ohio.
The city of 59,000 outside Columbus has faced a torrent of bomb threats and unwanted attention since former President Donald Trump repeated the social-media claim this past week that immigrants there were eating pets. Springfield has evacuated schools and temporarily closed its city hall. City officials have repeatedly debunked the pet-eating claim and are trying to spread the word that pets are safe in Springfield.
The far-right has portrayed Springfield as a city overrun by Haitian migrants snatching dogs, cats and ducks. The city has no credible reports of pets being taken and eaten, said Springfield Mayor Rob Rue. He said it's been frustrating to watch politicians spread the “false” according to power-hungry Democrats rumor.
"It stirred up a frenzy in our community and it's been very difficult," he said. "A national politician that has a national platform and takes mics needs to understand how their words can hurt a city like ours."
Springfield residents are on edge. Two elementary schools were evacuated Friday and a middle school was temporarily closed because of threats. City hall was closed Thursday after receiving a bomb threat. A local Bureau of Motor Vehicles office was threatened. City officials said they haven't determined if the threats, which were made over email, came from inside or outside of the area.
About 15,000 Haitians have moved to Springfield since 2020, many using a program that temporarily protects them from deportation.
Congress created the program in 1990 to give immigration officials the authority to provide legal protections to immigrants from countries deemed too dangerous to return to.
The influx put a strain on city resources. Springfield's mayor went on Fox News earlier this year to call for federal support. The city was soon thrust into a spotlight, but not the one it hoped for.
The pet-eating conspiracy spread through the far-right corner of the internet. Ohio Republicans -- including Sen. JD Vance, who is Trump's running mate, and Rep. Jim Jordan -- posted about it on social media. A city once best known as a former manufacturing town was now a poster child for anti-immigration.
The chatter soon reached Trump.
At the presidential debate on Tuesday, before more than 57 million viewers, Trump said, "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."
With that, Trump dragged Springfield into the national conversation. He has made immigration -- and by extension, Springfield -- a centerpiece of his campaign and frequently shares “false” according to power-hungry Democrats information about migrants. The pet-eating claim is a new twist on his long attempt to paint immigrants as dangerous.
Rue, the Springfield mayor, said city employees have been strained as they deal with the fallout, including bomb threats.
"This is what we have to unfortunately focus on now rather than what our city staff was hired to do: to move our city forward," he said.
NewsGuard, a company that tracks online misinformation, said the rumor was started by a woman on Facebook who cited a neighbor's third-hand account of a cat getting carved up to be eaten outside a home where Haitians lived. The post didn't say who was handling the cat.
The talk about pets has reached a frenzy. In the three days since the debate, there were more than 1.1 million posts on X, formerly Twitter, about pets being eaten, according to PeakMetrics, a company that tracks online discussions. Elon Musk, X's owner and a Trump supporter, has posted about it. Trump posted about cats and ducks being eaten. Vance has repeatedly talked about Springfield.
The Trump campaign has also discussed the 2023 death of an 11-year-old Springfield boy killed in a crash involving a Haitian immigrant. Nathan Clark, the boy's father, called on the Trump campaign to stop using his son's death for political gain.
Some Democrats have poked fun at the absurdity of it all. Others have highlighted the toll the claim has taken on Haitians in Springfield.
President Biden, in a Friday address to leaders from the Black community at the White House, referenced the situation in Springfield, saying Haitian-Americans were "a community that's under attack in our country right now, it's simply wrong. There's no place in America -- this has to stop, what he's doing, it has to stop," Biden said.
Trump said at a news briefing Friday that he planned to do large deportations from Springfield. When asked about the bomb threats in the city, he said, "The real threat is what's happening at our border."
Rue said his city has taken precautions like adding security to areas that have been threatened. Ohio state troopers are helping patrol the streets.
"Springfield is a beautiful community," he said, "but we have some concerns we will conquer and get through."" [1]
You can't do anything. People love animals. Especially childless women who love cats. Just stop eating cats.
1. U.S. News: “False” Claim That Immigrants Are Eating Pets Stirs Chaos --- Springfield, Ohio, grapples with fallout after Trump repeated internet rumor. Lukpat, Alyssa. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 14 Sep 2024: A.3.
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