Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) trusts Springfield officials who say Haitian migrants have not been eating pets but will send troopers and millions of dollars in aid to the city due to the surge of arrivals under the Biden-Harris administration.
After former President Donald Trump said that Haitian migrants in the Clark County town have been eating dogs, cats, and “the pets of the people that live there” during Tuesday night’s presidential debate, DeWine responded at an unrelated event in Springfield on Wednesday, 10WBNS reported.
“I think we should take the word of the city manager and the mayor that they have found no credible evidence of that story, of Haitians eating pets,” the governor told reporters, adding that the state was also unaware of any reports of such incidents taking place.
Trump’s claims came after Springfield residents complained that individuals within the group of approximately 20,000 new migrants had stolen and eaten local animals at a city commission meeting, Breitbart News reported.
“They’re in the park grabbing up ducks by their neck and cutting their head off and walking off with them and eating them,” one local man, Anthony Harris, said at the August 27 public forum:
A viral post from a Springfield Facebook group also claimed that a resident’s neighbor’s daughter’s friend’s cat went missing and was later found hanging from a branch outside a Haitian neighbor’s home to be carved and eaten, the Springfield News-Sun reported.
The social media user also claimed that “rangers” and police said that “[migrants] have been doing it” at Snyder Park with ducks and geese.
Springfield Police told the outlet that they were aware of claims being made on social media but that they were “not something that’s on our radar right now.”
DeWine said on Tuesday that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program, which President Joe Biden’s administration has granted to more than 300,000 Haitian nationals who would otherwise be eligible for deportation, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in June.
Thousands of Haitian arrivals have poured into the city of Springfield, which has around 60,000 people, as part of that program, 10WBNS reported.
However, DeWine did announce that he is sending Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to aid local law enforcement with the influx and earmarked $2.5 million over two years to “provide more primary healthcare through the county health department and private healthcare institutions,” the local outlet stated.
He also acknowledged that the federal government should do more to help the community deal with the influx.
The CBS affiliate also noted that DeWine’s family operates a Haiti-based charity dedicated to his late daughter, Becky, who was killed in a car accident more than 30 years ago.
City Manager Bryan Heck later called the unconfirmed reports of pets and waterfowl being eaten “misinformation” being manipulated by “political rhetoric” in a video statement posted later on Wednesday:
Message from City Manager Bryan Heck in response to the recent media coverage regarding our community. #ForwardTogether
Posted by City of Springfield, Ohio – Government on Wednesday, September 11, 2024
He also called the city’s recent workforce growth “diverse and robust” and claimed it has “supported the expansion of local businesses, contributing to the stabilization of our local economy.”