SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The two people involved in a viral social media post that led to rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were capturing and eating cats say they have no proof of the claim, according to a national misinformation tracking outlet.
The rumors — that Springfield and Clark County law enforcement officials have refuted — appear to have originated in a local Facebook group with a post from a woman named Erika Lee.
Lee wrote that a neighbor’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat and found it hanging from a branch at a Haitian neighbor’s home being carved up to be eaten.
The Springfield News-Sun has made several attempts to contact Lee and has been unsuccessful. But Lee spoke to the site Newsguard, as did her neighbor, identified as Kimberly Newton.
“I’m not sure I’m the most credible source because I don’t actually know the person who lost the cat,” Newton told Newsguard.
According to Newsguard, Newton “explained to NewsGuard that the cat owner was ‘an acquaintance of a friend’ and that she heard about the supposed incident from that friend, who, in turn, learned about it from ‘a source that she had.’ Newton added: ‘I don’t have any proof.’”
Newsguard tracked how allegations from the now-deleted post — based on a third- or fourth-hand rumor and zero evidence — went from a private Facebook group to being shared by Conservative social media influencers, to being shared by vice presidential candidate U.S. Sen. JD Vance, to being repeated by former President Donald Trump in a presidential debate.
Lee said in a separate interview with NBC News Friday that while she has concerns about the impact on Springfield from the sudden population increase from Haitian immigration, she did not intend to villainize the Haitian community.
“I feel for the Haitian community,” she told NBC News. “If I was in the Haitians’ position, I’d be terrified, too, worried that somebody’s going to come after me because they think I’m hurting something that they love and that, again, that’s not what I was trying to do.”
RELATED:
2 colleges in Springfield, Ohio, going virtual due to threats amid Haitian immigration firestorm
Donald Trump refers to viral post alleging animals eaten in Springfield during presidential debate
JD Vance doubles down on false claims of immigrants eating pets in Springfield
