A rumor fueled by former President Donald Trump during last week’s Presidential debate — first circulated by his running mate, JD Vance — has taken the world by storm.
Trump posited that Haitian immigrants who have relocated to Springfield, Ohio, are stealing and eating local pets.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in,” Trump said in a now-viral response. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
This claim was quickly debunked by the moderators of the debate, as well as Springfield’s local officials. Additionally, in the days following, the woman who first accused her neighbors of such activities on Facebook, also retracted her statement.
But that has not lessened the impact on community members in Springfield.
Navigating bomb threats, as well as the closure of schools and municipal buildings due to those threats, members of the Haitian community in Springfield have continued to try to work peacefully amid the national attention.
Romane Pierre, a Haitian immigrant living in Dayton, Ohio, is the manager of Rose Goute Creole Restaurant, where he spent time fielding prank calls after the debate.
“Yesterday some people call, I think they make some joke, ask if we have cat, dog. I say ‘We don’t sell that. We sell chicken fish, goat pork, rice, beans,’” Pierre told the Springfield News-Sun.
“I know my people — dogs, cats — we don’t do that in Haiti,” he added, calling the rumors “a shock for us.”
Fortunately, Pierre’s neighbors weren’t dissuaded by the claims. In fact, they showed up to the restaurant in droves over the weekend, with social media posts documenting lines out the door.
Local community member Steve McQueen helped organize the dinner, encouraging locals to dine at Rose Goute, according to Dayton 24/7 Now News.
“We know Springfield is full of love,” McQueen said. “[It] does not have the hate that is being told to the rest of the country and world as they’re even talking about.”
McQueen called the effort “organized love,” bringing dozens together to support the local Haitian community.
As for the team at the restaurant? Well, they were hard at work.
“I don’t want people to think that Haitians are bad people, because we came here to work,” Pierre said. “We work very hard.”
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine also spoke up to dispel the myths.
“It’s unfortunate that this came up,” Gov. DeWine said on a Sunday morning ABC appearance. “Let me tell you what we do know, though. What we know is that the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work.”
And the diners who ate at the restaurant this weekend could see — and taste — that labor of love.
One diner, Stephanie Whittaker, even came from out of town, eating at Pierre’s restaurant during a pitstop on a road trip.
“Obviously there’s been a little craziness and rumors around here,” Whittaker told WYSO, a local radio station in Ohio.
“The Jesus that my mom taught me about told me to build bigger tables and help people. So I thought I would come and see if there was anything actually happening,” she added. “And we just got really good food.”
Community support also extended to church services on Sunday, as Carl Ruby, the senior pastor at the non-denominal Central Christian Church spoke before his community.
“There are risks to standing with oppressed people, and our Haitian friends are not oppressed out of any fault of their own,” Ruby said.
“They’re oppressed because of what people in our community are doing to them. They are a strong, proud, capable group of people, and we absolutely love them.”
Ruby printed out 15,000 cards in Haitian-Creole and English that people can hand out to community members, sharing welcoming messages that express that the cardholder is glad they’re here.
And then, he led his congregation in prayer.
“Where there has been chaos in our city, replace it with peace,” Ruby said, according to WYSO. “Where there has been sorrow in our city, replace it with joy. Where there has been division, replace it with unity. And where there has been hate in our city, replace it with love.”
Header image courtesy of Wayne Baker/Facebook
