US election: Springfield woman denies being racist after admitting to starting pet-eating claims | World News
A woman who wrote a Facebook post about Haitian immigrants eating local pets has expressed regret after it sparked a national frenzy.
Erika Lee, a resident of Springfield, Ohio, shared online about a neighbour’s missing cat, claiming it was a result of an attack by her Haitian neighbours.
According to NewsGuard, a media watchdog, Ms Lee was among the first to spread this rumour online. The post quickly snowballed into a feeding frenzy, with unsubstantiated claims being echoed by Donald Trump in a debate with Kamala Harris and by his running mate JD Vance on other occasions.
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‘They’re eating pets in Springfield’
“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” Ms Lee told Sky’s partner organisation, NBC News.
“I’m not a racist,” she clarified, mentioning her and her daughter’s diverse backgrounds and her membership in the LGBTQ community.
“Everyone seems to be interpreting it as such, and that was not my intention.”
The neighbour mentioned in Ms Lee’s post, Kimberley Newton, told NewsGuard that the post inaccurately portrayed her account.
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Other posts contributing to the false claims included a photo of a man holding a dead goose in Columbus, Ohio, which was falsely circulated as evidence of the allegations in Springfield. A woman accused of killing and attempting to consume a cat was identified as being from Canton, Ohio, with no ties to the Haitian community.
The false claims began to circulate widely. Pic: End Wokeness/X
Local police and city officials have repeatedly stated that there is no evidence of pets being consumed in Springfield, yet the unfounded claims continue to spread nationally.
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Heightened anti-immigrant sentiments have resulted in school closures in Springfield due to bomb threats received by officials.
Ms Lee expressed surprise that her post had fueled conspiracy theories and hatred. She acknowledged real issues in the city, which was unprepared for a surge in population with the influx of migrants.
“I never thought it would go beyond Springfield,” she remarked, mentioning her decision to withdraw her daughter from school due to safety concerns.
Read more:
Where did Trump’s pet eating claims come from?
How the rumour spread online
Immigrant advocacy groups have warned about the dangers of such claims.
“The Haitian-American community in Springfield, Ohio, and across the nation feels targeted and insecure because debunked and racist conspiracies are being perpetuated at the highest levels of American politics and are still being repeated,” stated Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, a non-profit advocating for immigration reform, to NBC News.
“The false narrative that black immigrants are violently targeting American families by stealing and eating their pets is a potent and ancient racist myth that puts individuals at risk, especially in the era of MAGA [the make America great again slogan used by Donald Trump] when political violence is becoming more common, fueled by such rhetoric.”
