At the debate in September 2024, US presidential candidate Donald Trump said that illegal migrants in the city of Springfield (Ohio) abduct and eat other people's cats and dogs. We decided to check if this statement corresponds to reality.
Trump's statement was quoted by many Russian media - ""Komsomolskaya Truth","Gazeta.ru","Arguments and facts", As well as Telegram channels-" "The ax live"(819,000 views at the time of writing this analysis),"Nevzorov"(527 000), Shot (400,000), "Bad news 18+"(234,000) and others. They discuss the statement of the politician and users of social networks ("VKontakte" X, Facebook).
On the night of September 11, 2024 Moscow time, US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamal Harris for the first time Meet On the debate organized by ABC. Trump since the time of his presidency consistently protrudes For tightening migration policy: promises to stop illegal immigration and limit legal. It is not surprising that one of the key theses of the policy on the debate was the migration issue. Among other things, Trump said: “That they (Harris and the current US President Joe Biden. - Ed.) They did with our country, allowing these millions and millions of people to come to our country. <...> In Springfield, they eat dogs. The people who arrived. They eat cats. They eat pets of people who live there. And this is what is happening in our country. And this is a shame. ” The moderator David Moir objected that ABC contacted the Springfield authorities and they refuted the information voiced by Trump. He, in turn, retorted that he saw on TV an interview with local residents who talked about such incidents.
Over the past few years, many migrants from Haiti have really moved to Springfield, however, judging by statisticswhich is given by American Media, this did not lead to an increase in crime. Nevertheless, on the Internet, even before Trump’s debate and Harris, rumors spread that the Haitians living in this city allegedly steal from the neighbors of pets, who later eat. Apparently, it all started with postWhich on September 6, 2024 posted @endwokence in the X user. The publication, which scored 4.9 million views, contained a screenshot of the post on a certain other platform. His author complained that the friend of his daughter’s daughter lost a cat, and a few days later she saw her hanging on a tree in the courtyard of the house, where the Haitians live - they supposedly prepared to eat her. In addition, a photo of a dark -skinned man was attached to the post, who carries a bird like a goose by the paws. In the following days in the X this story Shared and other users, and the candidate for vice presidents of the USA from the Republican Party joined the discussion Jay Di Wans And the owner of the social network Ilon MuskPublicly supporting Trump.
It is almost impossible to verify the statement about a cat suspended on a tree, since it is not clear which resource the original message was published on, and there are no data on the screenshot to identify its author. In addition, the story itself is based on other people's words - and probably retold more than once, that is, some details when transmitting information could be significantly distorted.
With a photograph of a man carrying a bird, everything is a little easier. With the help of a reverse search by the image, it was possible to establish that for the first time there was a photo Published On Reddit on July 28. After a month and a half, the author is again Laid It is with a comment that this picture is used by the right media. He specified that the photo was really shot in Ohio, but not in Springfield, but in Columbus. In an interview with the newspaper The Columbus Dispatch The author of the photo, who wished to maintain anonymity, said that he took a picture, because "this is not what you see every day." He specified that he regrets the publication of the image, since now it is used against migrants. It was not possible to identify the man in the photo, so it is not known whether this is really a visiting person.
As the moderator of Debatov between Trump and Harris said, the city authorities Springfield deny information about the abduction and eating by migrants of pets. Representatives of the city administration informed reporters USA Todaythat they did not receive any trustworthy messages about cases of cruelty or murder of pets or birds living in parks. Supported Their and governor Ohio, Republican Mike Devine.
At the end of August, the same state took place incident, which could become a reason for the appearance of such rumors: a dark -skinned resident of Canton, in a state of intoxication, brutally killed the cat to eat it. The girl was arrested, and soon It turned outthat she is not an emigrant with Haiti, but an American named Alexis Ferrell.
Thus, there are no reliable evidence of cases (mass or at least single), when migrants from Haiti stole from the residents of the city of Springfield in the state of Ohio pets and then they eaten them. In the publication, which, apparently, became the primary source of these rumors, a story retold by an anonymous user from the words of another person is given as evidence, and a photo taken in another city one and a half months earlier. Viral information is also refuted by local authorities.
Photo on the cover: social networks (the image is created by artificial intelligence)
Read on the topic:
- ABC News. Harris-Trump Presidential Debate Transcript
- NPR. How Springfield, Ohio, Took Center Stage in the Election Immigration Debate
- Is it true that most of the crimes in Russia are committed by migrants?
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