philperth2010 wrote on Sep 13
th, 2024 at 12:34pm:
philperth2010 wrote on Sep 13
th, 2024 at 12:06pm:
Wow...
It's truly disturbing, but fascinating how it all played out.
Initial Claims: The rumour started on August 27, 2024, when a local resident at a community meeting alleged that immigrants were killing and eating ducks. This claim lacked evidence.
Viral Spread: A Facebook post, sharing an unverified story about a cat being killed by immigrants, went viral. It was shared widely and picked up by high-profile figures like Elon Musk and Ted Cruz, further spreading the claim.
Amplification: On September 6, mentions of pets and Haitians began increasing on social media. Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance and later Donald Trump amplified these claims. Vance and Trump made specific assertions about Haitian migrants eating pets, despite no credible evidence.
Misleading Images and Incidents: Misleading images and incidents from other locations, such as a photo of a man with a goose from Columbus, were used to fuel the narrative. Additionally, an arrest for animal cruelty in Canton, Ohio, involving a non-Haitian individual, was inaccurately linked to the claims.
Official Responses: Springfield city officials and local police stated that there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants. Ohio's Republican governor also dismissed the claims as based on rumour.
Political Exploitation: The death of an 11-year-old boy, involved in a traffic accident with a Haitian driver, was used by some political figures to reinforce anti-immigrant sentiments, despite it being an unrelated tragic event.
So it was bullshit from the start and resulted in Trump and his supporters exploiting the death of an 11-year-old boy, whose father spoke out about it which I
linked to earlier after replying to Mortdooley sharing the lie.
These people have no shame... They really are deplorables.