A Springfield, Ohio woman admits she lied about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs. Erika Lee is behind the false rumors that Haitian immigrants were “eating pets.”
Lee wrote a Facebook post detailing the disappearance of a neighbor’s cat. She included her neighbor’s suspicion that Haitian residents cooked and ate her cat.
READ ALSO: Here’s the story behind the viral Trump cat & duck memes
Lee’s post went viral and the story changed to include Haitian immigrants capturing and cooking geese and ducks in city parks.
The stories were debunked by local police chiefs in Ohio, but former President Donald Trump repeated the conspiracy theories during his first debate with Harris on Tuesday.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs—the people that came in,” Trump said about Haitian immigrants. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
They’re Eating the Dogs and Eating the Cats
Only Donald J. Trump can protect our pets!#PetsForTrump#DogsForTrump#CatsForTrump pic.twitter.com/RgLVevwxhE
— Ole Murica (@OleMurica) September 11, 2024
“I’m not a racist,” Erika Lee told NBC News. She added that her daughter is half-Black and she herself is mixed race and a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
“Everybody seems to be turning it into that, and that was not my intent,” she added.
“It just exploded,” said Lee of her Facebook post. “I didn’t think it would ever get past Springfield.”
Lee said concern for her daughter’s safety led her to withdraw her child from public school. She is considering moving due to the threats.
“I feel for the Haitian community,” she said. “If I was in the Haitians’ position, I’d be terrified, too.” Lee added that she is afraid “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.”
Haitian advocacy groups took to social media to shut down the rumors. They said Haitians who have been in American for years are getting death threats.
Over 20,000 Haitians were flown to Ohio from the southern border. Springfield was not prepared to handle the influx of some of the Haitians. The city has not been able to meet the demand for housing, health care, and education for the immigrants.
