00:00Recently, there were unsubstantiated rumors swirling that the Haitian immigrants in Springfield,
00:04Ohio were taking and eating their neighbor's pets.
00:08Springfield police and city managers have repeatedly said that those claims, which were
00:12initially made on Facebook, were not true.
00:14However, that didn't stop Donald Trump from spreading that very rumor during the recent
00:18debate against Kamala Harris.
00:20They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats, they're eating,
00:26they're eating the pets of the people that live there.
00:30And this is what's happening in our country.
00:33And it's a shame.
00:34But it wasn't just Trump.
00:35His VP running mate also shared the claims on social media, along with other prominent
00:40Republicans.
00:41Now, Haitians living in Springfield say they're afraid, with some even reporting harassment.
00:46Secretary of the local Haitian Community Help and Support Center, Rose Thamar Joseph, says
00:50this has shaken their community.
00:52The Haitian community in Springfield are a little bit out of shock and frustrated.
01:02And a lot of them are maybe talking about living in Springfield.
01:07Just days after the debate, Springfield City Hall was also evacuated due to a bomb threat,
01:12with Mayor Rob Rood telling reporters afterwards that the threat came from a local resident
01:16upset about immigration.
01:18Despite being corrected during the debate, Trump continued to spread the now falsified
01:22rumors at a rally in Arizona.
