‘I am afraid’: The aftermath of Springfield, Ohio, misinformation on Haitians who live there

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Vilbrun Dorsainvil said he fled his home country, Haiti, after someone tried to kidnap him. 

Three years later, he says he’s afraid for his and his community’s safety in the U.S.

"Before I was not, but right now I can say I am afraid," Dorsainvil said. "Right now, I'm afraid there may be a mass shooting on us. That would be terrible."

Dorsainvil’s fear started during ABC’s Sept. 10 presidential debate from Philadelphia, when former President Donald Trump repeated a debunked claim about migrants in this small city about 45 miles west of Columbus, the state’s capital. Trump referred to "Springfield" three times.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats," Trump, the Republican nominee, said. "They're eating, they're eating the pets of the people that live there." ABC host David Muir fact-checked Trump onstage. City officials had debunked the claim.

"There have not been any credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said at a city commission meeting a few hours before the debate. 

No correction could stop the real-world chaos that followed.

On Sept. 12, Springfield City Hall closed following a bomb threat "sent to multiple agencies and media outlets." Rue told The Washington Post the threats "used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community."

On Sept. 13, the morning after Trump repeated the false claim at his Tucson, Arizona, rally, the Springfield City School District evacuated two elementary schools following an email threat. A middle school had been closed all day because of threats. 

PolitiFact visited Springfield to follow the aftermath of Trump’s misinformation in a county that he carried by 60% in 2020. Journalists with cameras, tripods and microphones filled the small city’s downtown after the debate.

Many residents seemed hesitant to speak to news outlets; they didn’t want themselves or their small business in the conversation. 

Some residents told PolitiFact there has been a clear increase in the number of Haitian migrants moving to the city in the past few years. Some residents expressed concerns about road safety and resource constraints in recent months as a result. None of them said they’d witnessed or had evidence of people taking pets or wildlife and eating them. 

Emma Miller, a small-business owner and lifelong Springfield resident, said she and her husband started an English as a second language class for their Haitian neighbors. The classes had been growing.

"But this past week, only about half the people showed up because they genuinely didn't feel safe leaving their houses," Miller said.

The class was before the debate.

Dorsainvil, who was a doctor in Haiti, now works as a nurse assistant at Springfield Regional Medical Center. He was at work a few weeks ago when a co-worker first showed him a rumor on Facebook about Haitians eating their neighbors’ pets.

According to local news outlets, the claim originated on Facebook in late August. A user said her neighbor told her that her daughter’s friend had lost a cat and she had found it "where Haitians live" hanging from a tree branch and being carved to eat. 

NewsGuard, a company that tracks online misinformation, interviewed the original poster who said she had no evidence of the event.

Dorsainvil said his co-worker’s wife commented on Facebook posts, saying the claim was untrue and that she worked with many Haitians.

"When I heard this kind of stuff, I just laughed in my mind, because I know it's not true," Dorsainvil said. "It’s just nonsense."

The rumor quickly gained traction online.

On Sept. 6, the verified X account End Wokeness posted a screenshot of the Facebook post. The post, which has 4.9 million views, is what first made the claim go viral, said Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson University’s Watt Family Innovation Center Media Forensics Hub.

Trump’s running mate from Ohio, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, further amplified the claim on X. 

After being corrected by local leaders, Vance persisted, saying his office had received calls that Haitians were abducting pets and wildlife.

"It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false," he said, before describing "overwhelmed" school, housing and health services. 

Joshua Darr, a Syracuse University political communications expert, said politicians have the potential to be the most consequential misinformation spreaders because of their elite status.

Dorsainvil’s older brother, Viles Dorsainvil, said he left his shift working as a bilingual specialist at Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services early when he saw Vance’s X post.

"I was so perturbed and disturbed at the same time," Viles Dorsainvil said. "I could not concentrate to do my own job."

As the founder of the city’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center, he started getting calls from fellow Haitians in Springfield asking whether they were safe or should leave. 

Viles Dorsainvil said he tried to keep them calm, telling them the comments were part of a political agenda.

"But I think that those leaders should do better," he said.

In the past few years, a large number of Haitians have moved to Springfield, which had a population of 58,000 in the 2020 census. The city’s population is 70% white, in a state that is 76% white.

At a Sept. 10 press conference, Rue said the city has added 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants in the past four years. Most immigrants in Springfield are Haitian, but not all. 

Many Haitians, such as the Dorsainvil brothers, fled their country following years of political unrest. In 2023, the Biden administration started a humanitarian parole program allowing eligible Haitians to live and work in the U.S. for two years. He later extended Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status, another program that allows Haitians to legally remain in the U.S. temporarily.

Viles Dorsainvil,  president of the Haitian Community Support Center, speaks Sept. 11, 2024, about the effect of viral misinformation on the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio. (Maria Ramirez Uribe/PolitiFact)

Haitians have chosen Springfield because of its "growing economy and affordable housing," Melanie Wilt, Clark County commission president said at the Sept. 10 press conference.

Word-of-mouth has also played a role in attracting more Haitians. Viles Dorsainvil moved to Springfield in January 2021 because of what he called a "job surge." In April 2021, his brother, Vilbrun, joined him. Vilbrun said Viles, his friends and other family members told him "it would be a good place to live."

The large increase in Haitian immigrants in a short time has strained city resources. The rumors about pets distract from the city’s issues around housing, schools and "our overwhelmed health care system," Rue said at the Sept. 10 news conference.

Dr. Amit Seegala, the director of the Rocking Horse Community Health Center, told WHIO-TV in August that she is treating more patients than ever, and that the center has had to hire more staff, especially for translation services. (Haitians speak primarily Haitian Creole.) In May, the Clark County health department launched a health testing clinic to help offset the strain on the health care system; it provides vaccinations and medical health screenings.

The day after the presidential debate, Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, announced $2.5 million in state money to expand primary health care access in Springfield. The state has also started initiatives to increase translation services in government offices and provide driver education and English classes to Haitians. 

"I want the people of Springfield and Clark County to know that as we move forward, we will continue to do everything we can to help the community deal with this surge of migrants," DeWine’s statement said. "The federal government has not demonstrated that they have any kind of plan to deal with the issue. We will not walk away."

Trump referred to the Haitians as unlawful at a Sept. 13 news conference and promised to carry out "large deportations from Springfield, Ohio."

"We're going to get these people out," Trump said from his golf resort near Los Angeles.

The Springfield residents we spoke to mentioned growing animosity toward Haitians. 

Darin Preston, a Springfield resident who was walking downtown, said he had no firsthand knowledge of the rumors but said they were "probably" true. 

"I just don’t trust them," Preston said. "It’s like every gas station I go into, they own it. I mean it’s everywhere." 

Viles Dorsainvil opened the Haitian support center last year after a Haitian drove a minivan into a school bus, killing an 11-year-old boy, to "see what we can do to better address the situation and try to better give orientation to the newcomers."

The boy’s father has criticized Trump and Vance for using his son as a "political tool." At the Sept. 10 city commission meeting, he said he wished his son "was killed by a 60-year-old white man," so that "the incessant group of hate spewing people would leave us alone."

Springfield had been in the middle of the national immigration debate long before Trump started talking about the city. National news outlets have reported on Springfield’s growing Haitian community for weeks.

Hearing Trump repeat the false rumor, "my heart kind of sunk," Miller said, "just because it's already a really tense situation here, and the more that it's been in the news, the worse it's gotten."

Miller said, despite being at the forefront of a wacky story, "Springfield remains a really good place to live."

"When people only hear this about it, they get it in their head that it’s this like war zone," Miller said, "and there is a notable difference, but it is not something that negatively affects our lives on a day to day basis."

"I’ve really enjoyed getting to know all our Haitian neighbors."