Kimberly Newton said that her neighbor, Erika Lee, misstated her comments in a backyard conversation that became a widely circulated social media post.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—A backyard conversation between neighbors—followed by a misstated social media post that sparked a national media storm centered on reports of Haitian immigrants killing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio—has led to a backlash that has both women fearing for their safety.
Erika Lee and Kimberly Newton live next to each other in what Newton describes as a “usually quiet and peaceful” neighborhood in this blue-collar city located midway between Dayton and Columbus in southwest Ohio.
Springfield was once a booming industrial community before multiple factories closed in recent decades, and its population began to decline, reaching just below 60,000 by 2020. In the past four years, however, the population has risen with the influx of Haitian immigrants.
According to estimates, anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 Haitians have arrived in Springfield during this period, and buses are said to drop off more immigrants every day.
Earlier this month, after talking to Newton, Lee wrote a since-deleted Facebook post that first appeared in a private Springfield Facebook group called “Springfield Ohio Crime and Information.”
“My neighbor [Newton] informed me that her daughter’s friend had lost her cat. One day she came home from work, [and] as soon as she stepped out of her car, looked towards a neighbor’s house, where Haitians live, and saw her cat hanging from a branch, like you’d do a deer for butchering, and they were carving it up to eat.”
The story escalated when Lee’s post was screenshotted and posted to X on Sept. 5, where multiple conservative-leaning accounts shared it.
“I didn’t think it would ever get past Springfield,” Lee told NBC News.
Before the Sept. 10 presidential debate, the Haitian immigrant crisis in Springfield was mostly confined to the city and Clark County.
At an Aug. 27 city council meeting, some residents alleged that Haitians were killing cats, dogs, ducks, and geese for food.
Before the debate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), former President Donald Trump’s presidential running mate, said his office has been inundated with those claims.
Vance wrote on X that “reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
Early in the presidential debate, Trump called attention to the issue, saying: “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 comments catapulted Springfield, including Lee’s Facebook post, onto the national stage.
The city’s Mayor Rob Rue, the Springfield Police Department, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine among other city and state officials dismissed the claims as false.
Springfield Strategic Engagement Manager Karen Graves told The Epoch Times on Sept. 10 that “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
A police report obtained by government watchdog group Judicial Watch shows that at least one resident called to report her neighbors for allegedly stealing and chopping up her cat.
On Sept. 11, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost wrote in a post on X, “There’s a recorded police call from a witness who saw immigrants capturing geese for food in Springfield.”
He also noted that citizens testified to the city council about incidents of Haitian immigrants killing geese.
“These people would be competent witnesses in court. Why does the media find a carefully worded City Hall press release better evidence?” Yost wrote.
Amid the widespread attention to allegations that Haitian immigrants are killing and eating pets and wild animals, Lee apologized for the Facebook post in an interview with NBC News.
She admitted that she had not seen the cats first-hand and had based her post on what she said Newton told her.
“I’m not a racist,” Lee said, noting that her daughter is half black and she is of mixed race.
“Everybody seems to be turning it into that, and that was not my intent.
“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen.”
Lee declined an interview request from The Epoch Times, but Newton sat down for a discussion she hoped would “provide clarity” because she “didn’t say what [Lee] wrote” in the Facebook post.
“It was a five to 10-minute conversation. All I said was, ‘Hey, I heard some things you might want to watch out for your cats because they go in and out, there is a house in the neighborhood with Haitians, and there have been reports from residents at city council meetings who said pets were missing,” Newton told The Epoch Times.
“I didn’t tell her anything about the cat hanging in the tree, being butchered like a deer. I didn’t say that to her. Those were not my words.”
The owner of the missing cat was “an acquaintance of a friend” and not her daughter’s friend, Newton said.
Mark Sanders, a retired automotive engineer from Honda, is an outspoken advocate for Springfield residents.
He told The Epoch Times that earlier this year, he was contacted by several utility workers employed by the city of Springfield.
“They were replacing water meters in homes, and they told me that, in several houses occupied by Haitian migrants, there were dead geese, ducks, and cats hanging from pipes. I promised them I could keep their names anonymous because they were afraid they would lose their jobs,” Sanders said.
At a Springfield City Council meeting last March, Sanders spoke about the reports.
On Aug. 27, Springfield resident Anthony Harris told city council members: “These Haitians are running into trash cans. They’re running into buildings. They’re flipping cars in the middle of the street, and I don’t know how like, y’all can be comfortable with this.
“They’re in the park, grabbing up ducks by the neck and cutting their heads off and eating them.
“There are all these reports, and Bryan Heck [Springfield’s city manager] even said at one of the meetings that he had heard reports, too.
“I don’t understand why the post about our conversation created so many threatening responses. What I said is something that had been talked about for months.”
The City of Springfield did not respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times, but officials in press conferences continue to deny that Haitian immigrants are killing and eating pets and wild animals.
A case of mistaken identity has made the aftermath of the social media post even worse, Newton said.
A few media outlets used her photo with Lee’s name, Newton said.
“I’ve been called racist. I’m afraid to go out in the community. I’ve changed the color of my hair because I don’t want to be recognized when I go out,” Newton said.
“Someone called my employer to get me fired. Fortunately, my employer is my best friend, and she knows the person I am.”
Though public figures such as Trump and Vance, and Springfield residents, have been called racist for claiming that Haitian immigrants are killing and eating pets and wild animals, a Haitian pastor and social media personality who lives in neighboring Pennsylvania said in a YouTube video there is an explanation for why the claims could be true.
Self-described as a Haitian by birth and an American by naturalization, James Desvallons said that voodoo is part of Haitian culture.
“In voodoo worship, sacrifices to their gods are required, and those sacrifices have to be eaten because it is eating those sacrifices that they receive power, supposedly, from their gods,” Desvallons said.
Desvallons said that “it’s not common for Haitians to eat animals” and that “most Haitians want nothing to do with voodoo,” but those who practice the religion typically use chickens and turkeys as animal sacrifices, he said.
“That’s a truly, very normal thing. But if you cannot get a live turkey or chicken in the United States, what’s the closest thing you think a Haitian is going to look for?” he said.
“The closest thing to look for are ducks or the geese, or if they can’t get them, the cats and the dogs might be next.
“I can tell you, there are voodoo priests and practitioners in Haiti. They need to make sacrifices. This is probably the reason why cats and dogs are going missing.
“People are testifying, and I don’t think we should deny their words. I don’t think that people that are saying this are lying. I think these people know what they’re talking about because they’re living that experience and they have reason to feel the way they feel.”
Newton told The Epoch Times that she is hopeful that attention will be directed away from the Facebook post about her conversation with Lee and shifted to determining solutions for addressing driving, housing, health care, and safety issues in Springfield as the Haitian population continues to increase.
“Our city and state leaders allowed this to happen. We [residents] weren’t given a say. There was no proper planning for any of this,” Newton said.
“I never said what I said out of hate. What I said was out of awareness and caution, and there’s nothing wrong with being aware and cautious.”