A cache of internal emails obtained by 404 Media using a public records request show the chaos caused by the unfounded racist conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants are “eating the pets” of residents in Springfield, Ohio. The emails show city officials scrambling to deal with bomb threats, hateful and threatening emails and phone calls, a media bonanza, and confused residents in the immediate aftermath of the presidential debate, in which Donald Trump said “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’s running mate, JD Vance, told CNN that he has been willing to “create stories” about immigration in Springfield for media attention, which also came up at Tuesday’s vice presidential debate with Tim Walz.
404 Media obtained all emails that include the word “Haitian” sent to or sent by government officials in Springfield between September 8 and September 12, the days leading up to and immediately after the September 10 presidential debate. In total, we received hundreds of emails. The emails show, again, that there is no evidence of Haitian immigrants harming animals, and show a small staff of city employees dealing with a nightmare situation that focused a huge amount of attention on Springfield.
On September 9, two days before the debate, Springfield city manager Bryan Heck emailed all employees warning them about the narrative, which had already gone viral on X.
“Fellow Employees: As you are aware we were already in the national spotlight as it relates to immigration in our country. Over the weekend we have been trending on ‘X’ and other social media platforms. The primary focus has been on Haitian immigrants in our community supposedly stealing cats and ducks and in turn eating them. Other issues related to the immigrant situation are also mentioned in the posts. This has gone viral and we are being bombarded with emails from individuals all over the country as well as various media outlets seeking to capture the momentum of the story. If you happen to be copied on any of these emails, please do not respond … If you are aware of any illegal activity involving animals being taken from parks, or other areas of the City, please bring those to me so they can be properly handled and investigated.”
One employee immediately responded and said “we received a disturbing/threatening phone call. The call came in at 10:27 pm last nite. He left a message on our machine. It has been saved if anyone would like to come over and listen to it.”
An email from a police officer to city employees said that it was investigating whether there had been any calls about animal cruelty and said “I was unable to locate any reports completed by our officers in the last two years. I checked several different call types and even called Dispatch to ask what they might have been ‘coded’ this type of call under. The best guess they could provide was ‘ANIMAL’ which includes all animal calls, dogs at large, etc.”
The police officer then said they were able to find one call in which a woman claimed she let her cat outside and found “cat meat” outside. “the female advised she had let her cat out a few days prior and it had not returned. She found what she believed to be ‘meat’ in her yard and looked on the internet and believed it to be cat meat,” a summary of the call states. “She was speaking to her neighbors about it and they closed the blinds on her which led her to believe they had something to do with it. Officers did not observe any bones or fur around the meat to substantiate the claim and advised the caller. The caller advised she was going to take the ‘meat’ to get cremated.”
Later, this woman found her cat in her own home: “I was advised by [another police officer] she went to the original callers' house in the cat call above and spoke to her 2 days later. She advised she had her cat back.”
On September 12—after the debate—assistant city manager Tom Franzen contacted two U.S. Air Force officials to notify them about “Springfield Bomb Threats,” in which he said that Springfield had to shut down “multiple facilities” including city hall due to bomb threat, and “we expect ongoing issues like this related to the national attention Springfield is receiving related to the Haitian immigration issues leading up to the Presidential election.”
In between logistical emails between government officials, and dozens upon dozens of media requests, constituents and random people who watched the debate or had seen the false narrative were emailing city officials with a mix of threatening and hateful emails.
Mayor Rob Rue received the majority (but not all) of these types of emails. Here is a sample of them:
- One email titled “Haitian invaders” suggested that residents should buy large dogs that would attack Haitian people: “Since it’s obvious that you and the rest of the cowards on the city council are too afraid to handle this invasion citizens will apparently need to do so themselves. Purchase of Belgian Malinois and Cane Corsos should skyrocket along with protection training. If the dog goes in its yard and invaders are there, well, I guess lunch time it is.”
- Another said that Haitians “will NOT like the bitter cold” of winter and that Springfield should “have them quietly transferred to blue states.” Another email called Rue an “inauthentic gaslighting moron” and said that city officials “aid the DNC (Treason Party) Propaganda Media in attempting to rig any further Presidential Debates. Americand [sic] in Springfield have my sympathies because it is obviously cursed with some bureaucratic fucktards.”
- One email repeatedly called Haitians the n-word
- Another email titled “Invasion of Illegal Haitian Immigrants” reads “why you are not doing anything to protect your citizens and remove these haitians immigrants? How much money did you receive from Biden /Harris?”
- “Your lack of action on what is happening in Springfield and Ohio's leaders in other cities is outrageous and disgusting. You have immigrants harassing your citizens, going into parks and taking and killing animals, taking people's pets, skinning and eating them in public places, flipping over cars, taking over citizens yards, etc. Why in the world have you not called in the National Guard?”
- “I’m a lifelong resident of Ohio And I just want to email you in regards to the illegals walking the parks and destroying property of residence who pay taxes, slaughtering livestock creating chaos!! Ultimately, this is your responsibility top down or not! You will be held accountable for what you allow to happen in your city!”
A woman who claimed to be a resident of Springfield sent a very long email saying that she had recently built a home in Springfield and is now faced with a “very very difficult situation” because some of her neighbors are Haitian. “Our new home is now at risk of immediate depreciation.”
Another email titled “Your Lies” is full of racist disinformation, claims Haitians “do eat cats,” claims voodoo with cats is a “significant part of their culture” and ends by asking “is this the same Springfield as in the Simpsons? Or do they not tell which Springfield the Simpsons live in?”
City manager Brian Heck also received many threats because he publicly said that there were no examples of Haitians eating pets. An email titled “You are a liar” reads “you know your town is fucked by this illegal invasion … stop covering it up.” Another long email includes the lines “Let's thank President Trump for informing all of us what FAKE NEWS is and why it exists,” suggested that the city “form multiple possies” of police to drive out Haitians, “deport them to Washington DC” on buses, and ended with “CAT LIVES MATTER” and three AI-generated images of Donald Trump surrounded by cats and ducks.
City officials also screenshotted various threats on Facebook and shared them amongst each other. One read “We need a Haitian hunting license!!” Another read “Just imagine a world where instead of school shootings, they set their sights on these Haitian animals. The world would be a better and safer place.”
Some emails also reference another false claim JD Vance made that immigrants in Springfield have led to “skyrocketing” cases of HIV, which is not true. This narrative originally came from Republican Kyle Koehler, who is running for Ohio State Senate and who said “A delivery nurse reports that 70% of all scheduled Cesareans are for Haitian women who cannot deliver naturally because of HIV.” The mother of a hospital nurse in Springfield who works for a Christian charity in the city that assists immigrants emailed city officials to say that this was “disturbing misinformation,” and that “My daughter works full-time in the labor and delivery unit and said she cannot see how this information could be even close to accurate, based on what she has observed and the c-sections she regularly helps perform.”
“I am very concerned about the tone, the lack of accuracy, and the fear-inducing results of Koehler's entire speech, and frankly, I am continually shocked and alarmed that people that I know to be people of good faith and good will are using language and tone and misinformation to make a challenging situation even more difficult to address,” the woman’s email says. “I am personally and professionally aware on so many levels of just how difficult it has been to respond to all of the needs that have arisen. But I do not believe xenophobia and fear solve issues. The absurd myths, the horrible dehumanizing language and approach, and the constant weaponizing and politicizing is discouraging to say the least.”
A city official responded: “We have been flooded over the weekend with voicemails and emails of a very similar nature. Most if not all are exaggerated misinformation and/or false allegations. I can't speak on the hospital issues but it's the first I've heard of those statistics.”
Multiple organizations and charities in the city who assist Haitian immigrants also emailed city officials saying that they had received threats or needed police assistance. This included St. Vincent De Paul church, which said two people showed up and “walked the perimeter and exteriors of the buildings extensively throughout this time. They spoke with staff and questioned about their involvement with the Haitian community.”
Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio asked police for “directed patrol” of their building after receiving threats on X and an “uptick in hateful messages” over email, and seeing a “suspicious large black pickup truck with tinted windows idling outside our office.”
One email the charity received read “You people are about as Catholic as Judas. You are human traffickers serving Satan and the wicked in high places. Apparently none of you thought to teach the Haitian cannibals you illegally placed in Springfield to refrain from hunting killing and eating household pets. You are exposed. You should all be in jail.” The charity said that one of its staffers had also been doxed and that someone posted the charity’s office address in one of the threats. Cops also shared information with each other about a Haitian event at a radio station for “situational awareness.”
Not all of the emails were threatening. Many people reached out offering assistance or support, and several residents said that they were upset that JD Vance and Donald Trump were spreading lies about their community.
The owner of a local industrial finishing company emailed a city official with the subject line “JD” and said “What a scary nauseating thought this promoter of hate and lies could actually become vice president. Could he and others like him do more than they are doing to drag Springfield through the mud, continually divide the community, and make Springfield look so much worse than it is on national news.” Another resident said “Vance is NOT helping to solve our problems, he is now adding fuel to the fire of hate and division.” A woman in Florida emailed government officials and wrote “Is there a fund started for your Haitian community that I and others can contribute to? I’m sure this has been a hard time for all of you. I see in your local news that there has been a bomb scare. I’m so sorry you are having to deal with this because of this racist political stunt.”
Alix Desulme, the mayor of North Miami, Florida, who is one of only three Haitian mayors in the U.S., sent a formal letter to the city saying “I want to offer my full support to you and the City of Springfield as you address these concerns. I am more than happy to assist in any way that could be helpful, whether through providing guidance, sharing insights from our experiences here in North Miami, or engaging directly with your community … Now more than ever, it is critical for us to stand united against misinformation. By working together, we can build stronger, more inclusive communities based on understanding and mutual respect.”
