Springfield community reacts to claims regarding city's immigrant population
10TV spoke with people in Springfield over the lunch hour about the claims.
Author: Collin Dorsey
Published: 6:36 PM EDT September 11, 2024
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Online claims, boosted by high-profile politicians, have raised tensions in Springfield, Ohio, a city of about 60,000 people.
The claims that have been circulating that the city’s Haitian immigrant population have been killing wildlife and people’s pets for food. City leaders, along with the police and parks department, have refuted these claims.
“It is disappointing that some of the narratives surrounding our city has been skewed by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified by political rhetoric in the current highly charged presidential election cycle,” said Bryan Heck, Springfield City Manager, in a video statement Wednesday afternoon.
Former President Donald Trump amplified the online rumors during Tuesday night’s debate. “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 that live there,” Trump said.
10TV spoke with people in Springfield over the lunch hour about the claims. “It’s sad that there’s so many mistruths and dishonest comments being made about this population,” said John Brown. “I don’t know the source, but talking with the city, police chief and others, there’s no substantiation of these rumors.”
“The Haitian community is here, they’re going to be here. They’re going to start businesses here. We do have an issue with the driving. That can be fixed,” said James Steward. “We do have issues with the violent crime and it’s not being committed by the Haitians.”
He was referencing a string of car crashes which have been attributed to the immigrant community in the city. That has been a topic of discussion during the public comment portions of the city’s commissioner meetings. Rose-Thamar Joseph is the Operations Manager for the Springfield’s Haitian Support Center. She’s lived in Springfield for two years. She says she was unaware of the online claims until a couple days ago. “All of those rumors… we knew about it that day. We just saw it on social media. That’s all we knew about it also,” she said.
Joseph said there is no truth to the claims when asked about them. She said many people in her community are uneasy about the growing tensions in the city. “They have fear, a lot of fears right now. Some of them are talking about leaving Springfield. Some of them are scared for their lives. It’s tough for us,” she said. She also mentioned that she hasn’t heard of any Haitian immigrants receiving threats since this started.
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