# Springfield, OH immigrants: what's the actual story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 13, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220 "2024-09-13T17:14:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/41 "2024-09-14T01:39:21Z")
The woman behind the initial Facebook post has come forward. > **['It just exploded': Woman who sparked Trump's migrant pet-eating hoax comes...](https://www.rawstory.com/trump-migrant-hoax/)** > > The woman who appears to have inadvertently sparked a viral far-right hoax that Haitian migrants working in Springfield, Ohio, are kidnapping and eating people's cats and dogs has come forward to say she regrets that her social media post caused so... ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/42 "2024-09-14T08:47:28Z")
Heather Cox Wilkinson writes in her blog: > More than two months ago, they wrote, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, who is Trump’s vice presidential running mate, began to speak about Springfield at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, trying to tie rising housing prices to immigrants. The next day, at the National Conservatism conference, Vance accused “illegals” of overwhelming the city. > On August 10, about a dozen neo-Nazis of the “Blood Tribe” organization showed up in Springfield, where one of their leaders said the city had been taken over by “degenerate third worlders” and blamed the Jews for the influx of migrants. The neo-Nazis stayed and, on August 27, showed up at a meeting of the city council, where their leader threatened council members. On September 1, another white supremacist group, Patriot Front, held its own “protest to the mass influx of unassimilable Haitian migrants” in the city. Right-wing social media posters pushed the story, usually with “witnesses” to events in the city coming from elsewhere. [(20+) heather cox richardson - search results | Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=heather%20cox%20richardson) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/43 "2024-09-14T09:22:18Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Also, of course, we don’t know how long this mystery cat had been gone. Cat may have been under a bush in the back yard eating a mouse, and may now be snoozing on its human’s bed, blissfully unaware of this whole mess. Except if you look at the post that started all this, it wasn’t just “Cat missing, blame Haitians”, they explicitly say the cat was found hanging from a tree ready to be butchered. This was never an actual cat that actually went missing. It’s pretty much bullshit all the way down. > **[Triple Hearsay: Original Sources of the Claim that Haitians Eat Pets in Ohio...](https://www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/origins-haitians-eating-pets-claim)** > > “I’m not sure I’m the most credible source because I don’t actually know the person who lost the cat,” Kimberly Newton told NewsGuard. She is the Springfield, Ohio, resident whose story started it all. And if you look at the details of where these people got this idea, well, it’s a near-perfect example of the old friend-of-a-friend thing that always drives urban legends. > NewsGuard identified and tracked down the two people central to the claim: Erika Lee, the Springfield resident who wrote the original Facebook post, and Kimberly Newton, the neighbor who had provided her with a third-hand account of the rumor, making Lee’s social media post a fourth-hand account: the alleged acquaintance/cat owner; Newton’s friend; Newton; and Lee, who posted it on Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/44 "2024-09-14T09:26:23Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > NewsGuard identified and tracked down the two people central to the claim: Erika Lee, the Springfield resident who wrote the original Facebook post, and Kimberly Newton, the neighbor who had provided her with a third-hand account of the rumor, making Lee’s social media post a fourth-hand account: the alleged acquaintance/cat owner; Newton’s friend; Newton; and Lee, who posted it on Facebook. I miss the days when these sort of stories just circulated around the schoolyard at recess instead of becoming topics of national discussion. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/45 "2024-09-14T11:06:56Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Except if you look at the post that started all this, it wasn’t just “Cat missing, blame Haitians”, they explicitly say the cat was found hanging from a tree ready to be butchered. Very rapidly, have to load the van and go to farmers’ market: Judging by both your link and the one a couple of posts above, that wasn’t the original post, but one at least somewhat further down the line. I don’t know whether it was the one that made the whole thing blow up, though. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/46 "2024-09-14T11:28:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I miss the days when these sort of stories just circulated around the schoolyard at recess instead of becoming topics of national discussion. Back when these types of stories circulated around, we _knew_ they were just crazy, made-up stories. Did anyone really _believe_ babysitters high on LSD were putting babies in microwaves? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/47 "2024-09-14T11:31:00Z")
Sure, a few people really believed. The difference was they tended to be isolated in a sea of more rational people which greatly diluted their influence. These days everybody can find a “community” of like-minded individuals on line and form a committee/posse/political party to commit mischief as a group. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/48 "2024-09-14T15:53:01Z")
A little more information: The rumor itself was started by on of those Blood Tribe Nazis. No, he didn’t put it on Facebook, but he did say it in a city council meeting, which is probably what got the rumor mill going that led to the Facebook post. Here is where I learned this, and it includes citations: > **[The Comedy & Tragedy of Donald Trump’s Nazi Lies](https://skepchick.org/2024/09/the-comedy-tragedy-of-donald-trumps-nazi-lies/)** > > So, a few days ago I finished a video about the idiotic rightwing lie that the Hells Angels were going to Aurora, Colorado to fight a Venezuelan street gang. Sorry I just need a moment to accept th… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/49 "2024-09-14T15:59:51Z")
We used to see posters in Portland for missing pets all the time, usually cats that were allowed to roam outside freely. This was because of urban predators of the non-human sort, like coyotes and eagles. This is often the fate of pets that are not properly tended. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/50 "2024-09-14T16:25:20Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I will also add that, seasonally, there are a lot of wild geese in my neighborhood……they love the pond across from my house, in the spring I’ll see 6 or 8 adults out with around 30 goslings, it’s very cute. > > But the adults are large and become vicious when threatened —- plus they can fly away —and I really don’t see how a human could catch and kill one without using a firearm. Canada Geese, aka Cobra Chickens. > [@kayaker](#): > > Back when these types of stories circulated around, we _knew_ they were just crazy, made-up stories. Did anyone really _believe_ babysitters high on LSD were putting babies in microwaves? I recall it was the oven, from back before most people had microwaves. Plus “I can fly” from the third floor window, etc. Or the cop pulling over the stoned driver on the Golden Gate bridge. “Do you know how fast you were going?” “Forty miles an hour?” “Two miles an hour…!” All apocryphal stories more joke than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/51 "2024-09-14T16:27:59Z")
My count of people I know IRL who believe this is literally happening, or “could have happened” is now in double digits. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/52 "2024-09-14T16:33:12Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > All apocryphal stories more joke than anything else. Almost all _Dragnet_ episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/53 "2024-09-14T17:20:38Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [The stupid rumors about Springfield Haitians](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-rumors-about-springfield-haitians/1007210/109) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/54 "2024-09-14T19:22:13Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Plus “I can fly” from the third floor window, etc. A boy at my high school did this, though. The first death of a peer I experienced. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/55 "2024-09-14T20:53:01Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > This was because of urban predators of the non-human sort, like coyotes and eagles. Not eagles, really. Great Horned owls- they can take a cat up to 4 pounds or so (birds can not fly off with anything that weighs a significant amount more than they do). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/56 "2024-09-14T21:03:43Z")
I remember these same stories about Chinese immigrants forty years ago. Exactly the same. Told the same way. Identical. It’s just so comically stupid. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/57 "2024-09-14T21:06:22Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > ut the adults are large and become vicious when threatened —- plus they can fly away —and I really don’t see how a human could catch and kill one without using a firearm. A Canada goose could quite easily be hunted with a bat or a golf club, or your bare hands for that matter. (They can’t break your arm with their wings, contrary to the urban tale. Birds are very light and cannot hit you with that much force.) Canada geese are territorial and the males will often not back down or even walk away from a human. You could just blast them in the neck with a hand held weapon. If you walk up to a group there’s an excellent chance one or two will decide to fight. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/58 "2024-09-14T21:18:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s just so comically stupid. Until they start shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/59 "2024-09-14T21:22:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > A Canada goose could quite easily be hunted with a bat or a golf club, or your bare hands for that matter. (They can’t break your arm with their wings, contrary to the urban tale. Birds are very light and cannot hit you with that much force.) Canada geese are territorial and the males will often not back down or even walk away from a human. You could just blast them in the neck with a hand held weapon. If you walk up to a group there’s an excellent chance one or two will decide to fight. I had to break up a fight between a 60 lb dog and a domestic gander once (my dog blundered into the territory the gander was defending; his wife was setting on eggs). The gander had the dog’s ruff in his beak so he could not get away and was beating the shit out of him with his wings. I had bruises all up and down my arms and my dog didn’t feel so hot either. Nothing broken though. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springfield-oh-immigrants-whats-the-actual-story/1007220/60 "2024-09-14T22:08:49Z")
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