Editor's note: this article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal.
A social media post by Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted on Friday appeared to joke about a racist conspiracy theory that continues to rock an Ohio community.
A day after a Springfield school and other public buildings were shut down due bomb threats, and the same day that two other Springfield elementary schools were evacuated and one middle school closed due to a new, separate bomb threat, Husted posted a photo of two geese on X Friday morning with the comment, “Most Americans agree that these migrants should be deported.”
That was an obvious reference to a conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants in Springfield. It was made three days after former President Donald Trump amplified the claim that Haitian immigrants who are legally in Springfield are stealing their neighbors’ pets and eating them.
“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” an angry Trump said during Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
A day earlier, on Monday, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, posted on X that “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
The Springfield mayor, city manager and chief of police, as well Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, have all debunked the claims.
Springfield City Hall, a school and county buildings were closed Thursday after bomb threats related to the influx of Haitian immigrants to the community. In addition, there have been reports of vandalism of immigrant property and widespread fear among the Haitian community.
On Friday, two more Springfield elementary schools were evacuated due to a bomb threat, the city manager’s office has confirmed, Cleveland.com reported. A middle school was also closed Friday before school started. Police didn’t provide more details but said the Friday threats were separate from the Thursday ones.
In the absence of any evidence that dogs and cats have been stolen and eaten, figures such as Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Fox News personality Jesse Watters have focused on unverified reports that Haitians in Springfield are hunting and eating wild geese.
With a population of 58,000, Springfield has been strained by the influx of 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants, most of whom have come over the past five years under temporary protective status due to the chaos in their home country. Schools, health care facilities and other resources have been swamped by the rapid population growth.
But on the other hand, the influx has been credited with revitalizing a community which has been declining in population at least since 1990.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric has been linked to mass violence. Experts say that whipping up fears of an “immigrant invasion” and “terror” and conspiracy theories of a “great replacement” have helped motivate racist massacres over the past six years in El Paso, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.
Husted, the lieutenant governor who joked about the situation in Springfield, is expected to vie with Yost, the attorney general, for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2026.
His spokeswoman, Hayley Carducci, was asked Friday if Husted had any evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets or geese, and if he didn’t, did he think it was a funny thing to joke about. She was also asked if Husted was concerned that amplifying the conspiracy theory will make a target of yet another vulnerable population, one in the state he wants to govern.
“I don’t have an additional comment,” Carducci said.
