'I want Vance to apologize': We went to Springfield and found community hurt — and divided
14 September 2024
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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Driving through Springfield, Ohio, on Wednesday afternoon was not a scene of migrants digging through trash cans, decapitating animals or harassing neighbors.
Ducks and geese were undisturbed at Snyder Park, and even a small puppy sat on top of a picnic table in the park.
For the most part, residential streets were empty Wednesday afternoon. Same with the downtown streets, which had a few pedestrians. A community support center for Haitian migrants had no one seeking services when Raw Story arrived. A downtown bus stop had about five people walking by around 3 p.m.
Yet, the Ohio city of about 60,000 residents was thrust into the national spotlight this week when Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) both spread unsubstantiated claims of Springfield residents having “their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country,” as Vance posted on X.
Trump brought up Springfield during his first debate against Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, saying, "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats, they're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there.”
Rob Rue, mayor of Springfield, held a press conference Tuesday to address “recent rumors that have been circulated related to our Haitian community.”
“We wish to clarify 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,” Rue said.
Rue did not respond to Raw Story’s requests for comment. Raw Story visited City Hall on Wednesday to speak with Rue and Bryan Heck, city manager for the City of Springfield, and was emailed a video statement from Heck.
“It is disappointing that some of the narratives surrounding our city has been skewed by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified by political rhetoric and the current highly charged presidential election cycle,” Heck said in the video statement.
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Heck did not respond to Raw Story’s follow-up questions via email, nor did Karen Graves, strategic engagement manager for the City of Springfield.
“While we are experiencing challenges related to the rapid growth of our immigrant population, these challenges are primarily due to the pace of the growth rather than the rumors being reported,” Heck said in the video statement. “These rumors will not distract us from addressing the real strain on our resources, including the impact to our schools, healthcare system and first responders.”
Joe Morman, a doctor and chief clinical officer at Mercy Health-Springfield, said the influx of Haitian immigrants into Springfield (estimated between 15,000 and 20,000 since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to city officials) has had “a huge impact” on the hospital, but not a bad one.
“I think it is a very positive thing, and we enjoy the challenge,” Morman told Raw Story after a walk in Snyder Park. “Language is a huge challenge for us, but yeah, they're wonderful people.”
About the dog- and cat-eating rumors? Morman said on Wednesday, “The whole nation heard it last night. I haven't heard of any cat and dog cannibalism. I wouldn't mind if there were a lot less geese in our parks. God bless the Haitians if they're willing to do that for us.”
Some residents were indeed concerned by claims on social media of migrants eating pets and decapitating ducks and geese in Springfield — but no one Raw Story spoke with saw or heard any direct evidence of such incidents. All said they just saw such claims on Facebook.
Conservative publication The Federalist published a recording and report involving a nonemergency call in Springfield about four migrants allegedly taking geese, but Raw Story was unable to substantiate the validity of the caller's claim and the outcome of any investigation by the time of publication as Rue, Graves and Heck did not respond to Raw Story’s questions about the call.
Raw Story visited the Springfield Police Division on Wednesday and was directed to contact Graves.
Steven Monacelli, a freelance investigative correspondent, obtained the same report and recording as The Federalist and spoke with the caller. Monacelli posted on X that the caller, Toby, said the "men he says he saw with geese were speaking Creole. But he hasn't seen anything like it since, and there isn't any photographic evidence showing similar things in Springfield."
Karen Beckett, clerk with the Clark County Sheriff's Office," told Monacelli via email that the office had "no other information to provide" about the call and report.
"At this time we have not found any other record concerning Hattians (sic) harvesting geese. At this time we have not found any record of Hattians (sic) eating pets," Beckett wrote.
Liza Cash, a Springfield resident and Trump supporter, said the migrant situation in Springfield is “very bad,” and she saw a video on Facebook of an immigrant carrying two ducks he killed at Snyder Park. Did she see any such thing herself? “No,” Cash said.
Raw Story went to Snyder Park and saw dozens of ducks swimming near a fountain. Geese were gathered in the park as well. No one was bothering the birds.
A 14-year-old resident fishing nearby said he heard of the rumors, too, but again, he didn’t see anything himself except “a picture of it on Facebook.”
Brian Evans, a Springfield resident, said he hasn’t “had a problem with it at all,” regarding the Haitian migrants in the city.
“A few live right across the street from me. I live right behind where the Catholic Central football field is. I don't have any problems with it,” Evans said.
When asked if he knew of any issue of migrants eating pets or fowl from the parks, Evans laughed and said “no.”
Raw Story stopped by a pet store in Springfield, Bone-a-Fido Bakery, to ask about any concerns residents had for their pets. An employee said their phone had been ringing nonstop, but she was unable to answer any questions.
Community impact of the national spotlight
Near the intersection of South Yellow Springs Street and Robinson Drive in Springfield is a nondescript one-story brick office building, the Haitian Community Help and Support Center. The parking lot was nearly empty as was the office building itself when Raw Story arrived on Wednesday afternoon.
Denise Williams, president of the NAACP, Springfield, who was visiting the center on Wednesday, said the rumors about the migrants in Springfield have led to “major turmoil” for herself and Rue, the mayor.
“He's been threatened. I'm getting hang-up calls. I'm getting emails that are disgusting,” Williams said. “You got the hate groups that's here, and it's disgusting.”
Williams continued, “I think it's very, very disgusting to have a running president and vice to even single out Springfield without them educating themselves. It is causing extra turmoil here in our city, and I think it's a very disgusting moment for our community as a whole."
Williams called on politicians to "stop all of this rhetoric," specifically asking for Vance to apologize to the Springfield community for his spread of rumors about the Haitian community in the city.
"I want J.D. Vance to apologize to our community because it was a disgusting remark, and it has fueled the fire that's already blazing here," Williams said. “I hope the word gets back to him that we really need him to apologize to the city.”
On Monday Vance posted on X about “Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.”
Vance on Tuesday acknowledged the potential falsehood of the claims of animal harm by migrants.
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”In the last several weeks, my office has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who've said their neighbors' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false," Vance posted on X.
In the post, Vance went on to criticize Harris for her immigration policies and point to the death of a Springfield child, Aiden Clark, who died after his school bus was accidentally hit by an Haitian migrant. The child's father, Nathan Clark, asked for his son's name to not be invoked in political debates about immigration, AP reported.
"This needs to stop now,” Nathan Clark said at a Springfield City Council meeting. “They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio. I will listen to them one more time to hear their apologies.”
Williams said Haitian migrants in Springfield will "help our community" and include educated individuals, including engineers and doctors.
Sheila Fambro, a pastor in Springfield, added, “It’s just been crazy, just horrible the lies that are spread about the Haitian community, as far as eating the animals. It makes no sense at all.”
Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, himself migrated to Springfield from Haiti four years ago. The center helps migrants with legal paperwork, such as work authorizations, and applications for jobs, housing and "social benefits, like food stamps, Medicaid or cash assistance, so we help them as as much as we can," Dorsainvil said.
"They came here in search of jobs. All that happened in Haiti, the chaos, the political upheaval, so all those things kind of pushed Haitians away, and they flee the country for their safety," Dorsainvil said. "They just look for a place to stay, and they chose Springfield because some friend told them that they can find job here in Springfield, and they came here just to find a safe place to raise their family and to get a job."
Gang violence is a particular issue in Haiti. More than 2,500 Haitians were killed or injured in the first quarter of 2024 due to gang violence, according to the United Nations.
Dorsainvil said the unsubstantiated demeaning comments about the Haitian community in Springfield "have great impact" on people's mental health.
"It is sad to know that this thing comes from people who are seeking the higher office of the land, people who attended good universities, well educated, people who have the possibility to check everything that they hear or everything that comes their way," Dorsainvil said. "They should be here to work for the betterment of the country, instead of making fake news or saying fake thing that could impact the community or divide the community or the country more than it is now, so I think that they're high ranking people, and they should do better."
Dorsainvil said the comments about migrants eating pets in Springfield were "so shocking."
"It has made so much impact on the community, and friends have been calling me, asking me what they have to do, if they have to leave, or if they have to stay here because those rhetoric can escalate towards violence or anything bad for the community," Dorsainvil said. "We are here to help boosting the economy. We are here to pay taxes [like] everybody else when we work, so we are here to live and to see a good community in Springfield."
Under the direction of Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH), the Ohio State Highway Patrol was present in Springfield Wednesday and Thursday, Ray Santiago, a lieutenant with the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Public Affairs Unit confirmed to Raw Story. The patrol does not have an “operational end date” for its presence in Springfield, nor could it confirm the number of officers present, Santiago said.
The patrol's presence in Ohio cities is "data-driven" and focused on "addressing any crash causing violations to enhance roadway safety," Santiago said. He noted that there were seven fatal traffic crashes that resulted eight fatalities in Springfield in 2023, compared to two in 2022.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol was in Springfield in July and August as well "to decrease that fatal traffic crash trend that existed from last year to the year prior and address any of those challenging safety concerns, whether it's folks unfamiliar with traffic laws or folks that are simply disregarding them," Santiago said.
Springfield City Hall, along with multiple agencies and media outlets, received bomb threats on Thursday. The Ohio State Highway Patrol provided assistance in responding to the threats, which are unclear if they're related to the national news about Springfield's migrants.
A spokesperson for Vance acknowledged Raw Story's request for comment but did not respond by the time of publication. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Raw Story's questions.
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