CLEVELAND — With absolutely no evidence to support their claim, and despite being completely repudiated by Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and the city manager and chief of police of Springfield, Ohio, Donald Trump and JD Vance have continued to spread the lie that illegal Haitian immigrants are eating the cats and dogs of people who live in that city. Vance has added to the list of false claims that Haitians in Springfield may be the cause of “rising rates of disease” in that city.
Their claims are, in fact, one lie on top of another. There is a weather-related phrase about heavy precipitation that says, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” That is the way it is with this rumor about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio. The lies are “raining like cats and dogs.”
The first lie is that the Haitians are in this country illegally. In fact, they are here legally on a humanitarian visa parole program because of threats to their lives in Haiti that has resulted in their filling much-needed jobs in Springfield and paying taxes to the local economy.
The second lie involves the false allegation about eating the pets of their neighbors. No actual evidence for this has ever been produced and it’s widely refuted by local authorities.
The third lie, advanced primarily by Vance, is that Haitians in Springfield are responsible for a spike in the cases of communicable diseases in that city. According to ABC 6 News in Springfield, Clark County Health Commissioner Chris Coon has called that “a common myth … that’s not supported.”
The fourth lie coming from Vance is that a Haitian “murdered” a young boy in Springfield, an apparent reference to the death of Aiden Clark in a school bus accident last year caused by a Haitian driver. The boy’s father has urged Vance to stop using his son’s name for any political purposes and has requested an apology from Vance. No apology has yet been offered.
The fifth lie also involves Vance and his claim that he is acting on information he received from “a constituent.” The truth is that this vicious lie was purposely spread in the world of social media by a neo-Nazi group called the Blood Tribe. The New Republic magazine and NBC News reported Sept. 13 that its leader, Christopher Pohlhaus, began posting these false claims on the Telegram and Gab social media platforms.
It is dangerous to our nation that the presidential ticket for the Republican Party is bringing the hatred and venom of a neo-Nazi group into the mainstream of U.S. political discourse.
Trump’s running mate helped open the floodgates on the spread of this hateful lie. NBCNews.com reported on Sept. 12 that there were around 1,100 online posts on this topic on Elon Musk’s X social media platform on Sept. 6. That number jumped to 9,100 the next day. On Sept. 9, when Vance promoted the story on social media, that number skyrocketed to 47,000 separate posts on X.
The Rev. Marvin A. McMicklePhoto courtesy of the Colgate Rochester (N.Y.) Crozer Divinity School
There are real-world consequences to these false claims. Bomb threats have been phoned into Springfield-area public schools and colleges known to have Haitians enrolled. City Hall and the local Oho Bureau of Motor Vehicles were also the targets of bomb threats. Community events have been cancelled. Haitian residents no longer feel safe at home or at work.
Voltaire, the 18th century French satirist and writer, once wrote, “Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can also make you commit injustices.” We saw this play out on Jan. 6, 2021. It looks as though Trump and Vance are setting the stage for a repeat in 2024.
The Rev. Marvin A. McMickle is the interim senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland in Shaker Heights. He is the retired president of the Colgate Rochester (N.Y.) Crozer Divinity School and pastor emeritus of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland.
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