Janice R. Andrews
Cleveland, Ohio (WKBN) — People all over the country are upset about a small city in Ohio because of false online rumours about Haitian immigrants that caused fear, hate, and even bomb threats. The woman who wrote one of the first Facebook posts that led to these false claims says she feels terrible about what she did and never meant to cause so much trouble.
Erika Lee, who lives in Springfield, wrote on Facebook that a neighbor’s cat was stolen. Lee wrote in her post that her neighbour thought her Haitian neighbours were to blame. But Lee didn’t know anything about the crime herself; she was just telling what she had heard. Not what she thought would happen was how quickly things would get out of hand.
Lee told NBC News on Friday, “It just blew up into something I didn’t mean to happen.”
After she posted, a lot of false information spread on social media, which led to racist and untrue claims that pets were being hurt by Haitian immigrants in Springfield. Screenshots of Lee’s post went viral, and other people online shared them even more. This caused a huge uproar that spread across the country. During a recent presidential debate, former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance brought up the false claims.
False Rumours Spread
There was more false information out there than just Lee’s Facebook post. Other posts started going around, like one with a picture of a man holding a dead goose. The picture was taken in Columbus, Ohio, but it was lied about as proof that Haitians in Springfield were doing wrong. A disturbing video of a woman reportedly killing a cat was also wrongly linked to Springfield and the Haitian community. It was later found that the video was from Canton, Ohio, and had nothing to do with Springfield or the Haitian community.
Even though city and police officials said over and over that there was no proof of crimes involving Haitians and pets, the rumours kept going around. When bomb threats were made against Springfield schools and government offices, they had to close. This made people even more afraid and tense in the town.
Anger and Fear
Lee is now dealing with the effects of what she did. She took down her Facebook post, but she says she feels terrible that she accidentally made things worse for her town and the Haitian people who live there. Lee says she is of mixed race and is a part of the LGBTQ community. She says she is not racist and never meant to make people angry about immigrants.
She said through tears, “I’m not racist.” “That’s what it seems like everyone is making it into, and that wasn’t my intention.”
Lee has since taken her daughter out of school because of the threats and attention her family has been getting. She now worries about the safety of her family and the Haitian community, which she says she never meant to hurt.
She said, “I feel for the Haitian people.” “I would be scared too if I were in their shoes.”
Another Matter
Spreading false information in Springfield brings up bigger problems in the city. Over the past five years, Haitian refugees have brought a lot more people to Springfield than the city was ready for. It has been hard for the city to meet the housing, health care, and other service needs of its new residents, many of whom came with federally protected status.
Executive head of the immigration reform group America’s Voice, Vanessa Cárdenas, spoke out against the rumours and said she worried about the Haitian-American community.
“Dehumanising, debunked, and racist conspiracies are being pushed at the highest levels of American politics,” Cárdenas said. “The Haitian-American community in Springfield and across the country feels targeted and unsafe.” “The false claim that Black immigrants are attacking American families violently by stealing and eating their pets is an old and powerful racist trope that makes people feel like they are being watched.”
Cárdenas also said that this kind of talk is especially dangerous right now, when violent acts are more likely to be caused by these kinds of conspiracy theories.
Attention across the country and fallout
Because of the way politics are right now, what started as a neighbourhood Facebook post has now become a national problem. The false rumours about Haitian refugees have put Springfield in the public eye, and the effects have been felt all over.
Lee was still shocked by how many people saw her post and said she never thought it would go beyond her small town. She said, “I didn’t think it would ever get past Springfield.”
Still, things keep getting worse. The Haitian community in Springfield is now under more scrutiny and fear because the fake claims are being spread by the national media and politicians.
Fears are still high, so supporters stress how important it is to dispel false information before it spreads. That being said, people in Springfield and the Haitian community are still trying to figure out what happened after a single social media post turned into something much more dangerous.
