Springfield, Ohio, resident Erika Lee shared an unverified claim on Facebook about Haitian immigrants in her town. Then it became a national talking point
Two women from Springfield, Ohio, are speaking out about the unverified gossip they helped spread, which fueled a viral conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets.
Springfield resident Erika Lee appeared on NBC News on Friday, Sept. 13, to express regret over the impact of a rumor she posted on Facebook, which she had no idea would become a national news story.
“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” she told the outlet.
“I’m not a racist,” Lee added, saying that she is mixed race and part of the LGBTQ+ community. “Everybody seems to be turning it into that, and that was not my intent.”
Lee said that she has pulled her daughter out of school over fears for her safety and is now also concerned for the Haitian community.
“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.”
According to NewsGuard Reality Check, Lee shared a baseless rumor that she heard third-hand about a pet cat in Springfield going missing, then later being found outside a Haitian family’s home hanging upside down and being butchered.
The post was shared on a private Facebook page called “Springfield Ohio Crime and Information.” Lee told NewsGuard she was “just trying to inform people, you know, again, not saying Haitians as a whole [are] bad.”
Lee’s claim was screenshotted and posted by an X user on Sept. 5, and the screenshot was spread by conservative-leaning accounts. Eventually, the rumor — along with other unverified stories about Haitian immigrants — snowballed into a larger, harmful conspiracy theory that got platformed during the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Kimberly Newton, the woman who told Lee the story about the cat in the first place, explained to NewsGuard that she first heard the rumor from “an acquaintance of a friend.”
“I’m not sure I’m the most credible source because I don’t actually know the person who lost the cat,” Newton admitted. “I don’t have any proof.”
During the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Trump, 78, alleged that immigrants are “eating pets,” amplifying the conspiracy theory.
“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 who live there, and this is what’s happening in our country,” Trump claimed.
Moderator David Muir fact-checked this claim in real-time, saying Springfield’s city manager already clarified that “there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
Springfield, which has a large Haitian immigrant community, quickly became a target of Trump’s fan base. In the days since the debate, the city has been plagued by threats that have forced the closure of numerous schools, government buildings and hospitals.
Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine recently spoke out about the baseless rumors that are still spreading about the Haitian population in Springfield.
“There’s a lot of garbage on the internet. You know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There’s no evidence of this at all,” DeWine said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Sept. 15.
“Hate groups coming into Springfield, we don’t need these hate groups,” DeWine continued. “I saw a piece of literature yesterday that the mayor told me about from purportedly the KKK [Ku Klux Klan].”
He continued: “Springfield is a good city. They are good people. They’re welcoming people.”
