Dayton Leaders Rebuke New Migrants 'Eating Pets' Claim Shared by JD Vance

The mayor and police chief of Dayton, Ohio, have rebuked a new claim shared by Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance on Saturday that Haitian migrants are "eating pets."

One of the most memorable moments from Tuesday night's presidential debate was when former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, claimed that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were "eating the pets."

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs—the people that came in," Trump said. "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."

One of the debate moderators, ABC News' David Muir, quickly fact-checked Trump's claim and told viewers that the outlet had spoken to Springfield's city manager about those allegations who told them that "there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."

Since then, city officials have consistently debunked these rumors.

However, on Saturday morning, Vance, a sitting senator from Ohio, reposted a video on X, formerly Twitter, from conservative activist Christopher F. Rufo who claimed that it showed migrants barbecuing cats in Ohio.

Rufo's post read: "We have discovered that migrants are, in fact, eating cats in Ohio. We have verified, with multiple witnesses and visual cross-references, that African migrants in Dayton, the next city over from Springfield, barbecued these cats last summer."

"Kamala Harris and her media apparatchiks should be ashamed of themselves. Another 'debunked' story that turned out to have merit," Vance wrote in his repost.

Rufo's X post linked to a Substack blog article in which he writes that he found a social media post from August 2023 with a video of "what appear to be two skinned cats on top of a blue barbeque."

The caption of the August 2023 social media post read: "Yoooo the Africans wildn on Parkwood," which Rufo said was referring to Parkwood Drive in Dayton, Ohio.

Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr., a Democrat, "firmly debunk[ed]" the claim that "Dayton's immigrant and refugee community is involved in eating cats," in a statement on Saturday.

"This claim is totally false and dangerously irresponsible of politicians aiming to sow division and fear. There has been absolutely zero reports of this type of activity and spreading such misinformation undermines our status as a welcoming city," the mayor wrote. "The city of Dayton stands by its immigrant and refugee community and we value all of their contributions to our city's vibrant culture and economy."

When reached for comment by Newsweek, Mims' office shared some data points to show how the immigrant and refugee community contribute to Dayton's economy.

Immigrants represent 8.3 percent of manufacturing workers, 8.2 percent of hospitality workers and 7.7 percent of transportation and warehousing workers in Montgomery County, despite only making up 4.8 percent of the county's overall population. Dayton is located in the Montgomery and Greene counties.

The immigrant community in Montgomery County also paid hundreds of millions in taxes in 2019 alone. A total of $144 million went to federal taxes and $75 million to state and local taxes.

The Dayton Police Department also released a statement on Saturday that read that the department "strongly refutes the irresponsible information being put out on social media or other avenues about our immigrant community."

"We stand by our immigrant community and there is no evidence to even remotely suggest that any group, including our immigrant community, is engaged in eating pets. Seeing politicians or other individuals use outlandish information to appeal to their constituents is disheartening," Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal wrote in the release.

Newsweek reached out to Vance's office, Rufo and the Dayton police via email for comment on Sunday morning

Meanwhile, bomb threats were made in Springfield on Thursday and Friday, leading to the closures of schools and municipal buildings. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, told The Washington Post that Thursday's threat included "hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community."

"Pets are safe in our community, and it's unfortunate that there was a spotlight put on a story that was validated that was not true at all," Rue told local station WSYX.

Where Did the 'Eating the Pets' Claim Originate?

A Springfield resident by the name of Erika Lee made a Facebook post alleging that local Haitian immigrants were "eating pets," leading to significant national attention on the small city. Her post detailed the disappearance of a neighbor's cat and included her neighbor's suspicions that their Haitian residents were involved in the incident.

She admits that she had no direct evidence supporting such a claim and that the incident has left her ridden with guilt and anxiety due to the controversy it generated.

"It just exploded into something I didn't mean to happen," Lee told NBC News on Friday.

When asked by NBC News' Kristen Welker about Vance's "baseless" claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets on Meet The Press on Sunday morning, the Ohio senator said, "Kristen, I hear you saying that they're baseless, but I'm not repeating them because I invented them out of thin air. I'm repeating them because my constituents are saying these things are happening."

Update 9/18/24, 10:16 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.