Ohio resident behind post that sparked false rumors about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield expresses regret: ‘It just exploded’
By Patrick Reilly
Published Sep. 13, 2024, 11:31 p.m. ET
The Springfield, Ohio woman whose social media post was among the first to spread a baseless claim of Haitian immigrants stealing and eating locals’ pets says she’s deeply regretful and never intended to cause harm to the Haitian community.
“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” Erika Lee told NBC News on Friday night.
Lee had no firsthand knowledge of any such incidents involving the Caribbean immigrants when she posted on Facebook recently about a missing cat that her neighbor reportedly believed was butchered and eaten by one of the city’s Haitian residents.
“My neighbor informed me that her daughters [sic] friend had lost her cat …,” she had posted, according to Newsguard, a media watchdog that monitors for misinformation online.
“One day she came home from work, as soon as she stepped out of her car, looked towards a neighbors house, where Haitians live, & saw her cat hanging from a branch, like you’d do a deer for butchering, & they were carving it up to eat,” Lee added.
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https://nypost.com/2024/09/13/us-news/springfield-woman-who-sparked-rumors-about-haitians-eating-pets-says-she-never-meant-to-cause-harm/
