Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance – a vocal proponent of conspiracy theories that immigrants are “replacing” Americans – is now spreading misinformation about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, killing pets and protected wildlife.
“Pets have reportedly been kidnapped and eaten by people who are not supposed to be in this country,” Vance posted on X on Monday, repeating an unconfirmed rumor that circulated on right-wing social media over the weekend.
The unnamed “reports” that Vance cites probably come from Info wars or the Daily Mailboth of which published poorly sourced posts about Haitian migrants eating pets and wild animals. Both posts reference a Facebook post in which someone claims that their neighbor's daughter's friend lost her cat – and later found it “hanging from a branch like one would with a deer for slaughter” in front of a house “where Haitians live.” Local police told the Springfield News-Sun that there are no reports of stolen or eaten pets in the community.
Still, the situation surrounding Springfield's pet is a particularly instructive example of how right-wing media often whitewashes obvious misinformation and pushes it into the mainstream. The rumor, which had reportedly been spreading locally for at least a month, was amplified by conservative influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers – and then pushed into the mainstream by politicians like Vance and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and immigration fanatics like Elon Musk.
The News-Sun suggested that the original Facebook post confused Springfield with Canton, Ohio, a city 175 miles northeast where a woman was recently arrested for allegedly killing and eating a cat in front of several people. Right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong – who frequently posts about U.S. politics despite residing in Malaysia – suspected that the woman who ate the cat was Haitian.
The Springfield case is a particularly instructive example of how right-wing media often whitewash obvious misinformation and bring it into the mainstream.
That woman, Allexis Ferrell, is a U.S. citizen, according to Daniel Di Martino, a graduate student at Columbia and fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute who found her voter registration information. Other reports suggest the rumor began before Ferrell's arrest. “We get these reports: 'The Haitians are killing ducks in many of our parks,' or 'The Haitians are eating vegetables right off the shelf at the grocery store,'” Jason Via, Springfield's deputy director of public safety and operations, told NPR in August. “And we haven't really seen any of that. It's really frustrating.”
But the rumor persists. A Springfield resident brought it up during a Springfield City Commission meeting on August 27, claiming that Haitian migrants “were in the park grabbing ducks by the neck, cutting off their heads and walking away with them and eating them.”
City commission meetings, which are archived on YouTube, are a steady source of content for right-wing commentators eager to prove that real Americans are suffering under the supposedly open border. On Sept. 8, X-account End Wokeness posted a clip from the Aug. 27 commission meeting, spreading the duck-eating rumor to more than 2.9 million followers. Two days earlier, the same account posted a screenshot of the unverified Facebook post claiming that “ducks and pets are disappearing” in Springfield. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk reposted the image on Sept. 8. “Apparently people's pet cats are being eaten,” wrote Musk, who often posts about the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. “If it weren't for 𝕏,” End Wokeness posted the next day, “you would have no idea Haitians are eating cats in Springfield.”
Right-wing disinformation campaigns about migrants are by no means limited to Springfield. Last month, after a video showing armed men knocking on an apartment door went viral on X, conservative commentators claimed that members of a Venezuelan gang had taken over a Colorado apartment complex. End Wokeness claimed that gang members had begun collecting rent in a second building. City Journalthe Manhattan Institute's internal publication, claimed two apartment complexes were “under siege” by Venezuelan gang members. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman later said “criminal elements” had occupied buildings in the city and were extorting residents. Former President Donald Trump echoed the reports, saying Venezuelans were “taking over the whole city.”
In fact, Aurora Police told the Related Press that the gang members had not taken over the apartment complexes and were not collecting rent. Residents of one building, including some Venezuelans, said the complex's New York-based management company had neglected repairs. But the rumor continued to spread on X, where it was amplified by Musk. “Unless Trump wins,” he posted, “meet your new building managers.”