For more than two centuries, it’s a town that has stayed out of the spotlight as its largely law-abiding folk quietly carried on with their lives.
It’s so unassuming, even its name was taken from another city.
But now Springfield, Ohio, has suddenly found itself under worldwide scrutiny over its burgeoning Haitian population – and you can taste the tension on the streets.
The latest inflammatory and unproven accusations that some new immigrants are eating household pets have only served to increase the rancor of many locals who cannot accept the new arrivals.
Meanwhile, some of the 15,000 or so Haitians who have made the city their home since 2020 are now considering leaving because of the bitterness being generated, DailyMail.com can reveal.
For a mid-western city previously known for farm machinery manufacturing, it’s not overstating to say that turmoil is in danger of taking over. One white local told us: ‘I fear bullets are going to fly.’
For over two centuries, Springfield, Ohio, was a quiet, law-abiding city, so unassuming that it borrowed its name from another place. However, it is now under global scrutiny due to its growing Haitian population, and tensions are rising.
Recent, unproven claims that some new immigrants are slaughtering ducks and geese in local parks, have intensified local resentment. As a result, some of the approximately 15,000 Haitians who moved to the city since 2020 are contemplating leaving.
On the very day we visited to try to unpick fact from fiction, a bomb threat closed down the city hall and an elementary school. Mayor Rob Rue admitted the words contained ‘hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians’.
Into that mix, of course, came Donald Trump, who propagated the pet-eating narrative during his combative presidential debate on Tuesday with Kamala Harris.
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He claimed: ‘In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country.’
After ABC news anchor and debate co-moderator David Muir interceded to say the city said there had been no credible reports of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community, Trump doubled down.
Although the debunked claims have been on social media, he said: ‘I’ve seen people on television. The people on television saying my dog was taken and used for food.’
Even before the debate, Trump – the first president since McKinley not to have a dog in the White House – posted AI memes on his Truth Social account showing cats in MAGA hats. This was after his vice presidential pick JD Vance had seized on the accusations to build a narrative against migrants and illegal immigration.
This drama all over a city of 60,000 that was founded in 1801, named after Springfield, Massachusetts, and had previously been in decline for decades as its blue-collar industries collapsed.
The influx of Haitians has been credited with helping a resurgence, filling job gaps in places like the Amazon distribution center and a local metal working factory.
But the pet-eating claims and others that immigrants have been slaughtering ducks in the park have left the city on edge.
Unlike many American downtowns now, Springfield has an aura of regeneration with coffee shops and bistros in neat redbrick buildings. Large colorful murals celebrating the city adorn walls. Road signs proclaim ‘Springfield, find your unwind.’
Outwardly, the factor is definitely feelgood. But you barely need to scratch the surface to reveal the fractious underbelly.
Rose-Themar Joseph criticized the comments as shocking and frustrating, accusing those in power of using Haitians for political purposes and spreading misinformation
At the Haitian Community and Support Center, administrator Rose-Themar Joseph was composed yet clearly unsettled in her response to the ex-president’s incendiary remarks, viewed by 67million Americans who watched the debate live on TV.
Between assisting new arrivals at the center’s building on the edge of the city, she told us: ‘Trump’s comment shocked me and frustrated me.
‘Haitians are being used as part of a political agenda by people with power and money. They should fact check the information before spreading it all over the world. It’s showing a lack of humanity.
‘We don’t know the exact number of Haitians now in Springfield. But they come here because there are jobs and it is a much more affordable part of the country that Florida or New York.
‘Many work in the local Amazon center. All types of people, doctors, lawyers, all types who had to flee Haiti because there is a complete breakdown of law and order on the streets.’
Joseph, a 40-year-old mother, fled Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince four years ago after an armed gang stopped her car and shot at it. Miraculously, the former American Red Cross worker survived, but her family implored her to leave fearing she would be targeted again.
‘There were three of us in the car and we were stuck in traffic. This gang came out and just started shooting. That kind of thing happens all the time there. Shootings, kidnappings, nobody can feel safe.
Joseph entered the United States in Miami four years ago on a visitor visa and was granted Temporary Protected Status, available to people from war-torn countries or broken regimes.
She moved to Springfield for its affordability.
Her current organization helps newcomers apply for jobs, seek out school places for their children and investigate the possibility of certain qualifying benefits such as food stamps. The majority of Haitians in Springfield are legal immigrants, there through TPS, Green Cards, the Humanitarian Parole Program and also citizenship.
Despite the current tensions, she insisted on leaving us with this message: ‘I just want to say to the American people, thank you.’
Pictured: Rose Goute Creole Restaurant in Springfield, situated in a busy strip mall
Romane Pierre, who moved to Springfield in 2020 seeking affordable housing and opportunities, noted that the community is distressed by false claims about Haitians eating pets, which exacerbates local hostility.
At the thriving Rose Goute Creole Restaurant situated in a busy strip of diners and stores, manager Romane Pierre, 41, sat at one of his tables and put on a brave face despite his rising concerns.
His main worry was escalation. ‘Many people in our community are shocked by Donald Trump’s words and genuinely fear what could happen next.
‘Some are considering leaving Springfield, I know some others who have actually left. Because Haitians in this town don’t have guns. But Americans, they do have guns.
‘American people like their cats and dogs, so when it’s said Haitians are eating them we don’t know how they’re going to react. I know a lot of people who feel afraid right now. They don’t know what’s going to happen next.
‘This was the feeling just before the debate as well, when JD Vance started sharing these stories.
‘Let me tell you, Haitians don’t eat dogs, they don’t eat cats. My people, they like goat.’
And he emphasized: ‘Haitians come here looking for an opportunity, they’re looking for a job, a place to live that they can afford. And they work very hard.’
Pierre came to the United States in 2020 and headed to Springfield ‘because you could get a four-bedroom house for $700 a month. After I came, every day, every day, every month, more people followed.’
He accepts the massive influx has put terrific strain on schools, housing and health care. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine this week pledged $2.5 million to expand primary health care cover in Springfield.
Pierre fled Port-au-Prince after his computer business was ransacked by an armed gang and he was told his life under threat. He entered the US on a visitor visa and claimed Temporary Protected Status. His spoken English is excellent.
‘It’s chaos in Haiti. Here we feel we have some security and with hard work and ambition we can make something or ourselves.’
Returning to the Trump comments, Pierre pointed to a large floral arrangement on the restaurant counter. ‘A lot of Americans come in here, they like Haitians,’ he said. ‘After the presidential debate, some of them brought us those flowers. There’s hope.’
Priscilla Marrs, 53, voiced strong anti-Haitian sentiments, blaming them for taking groceries and causing car accidents
Courtney Marrs said the Haitians she’s worked with are disrespectful and rude
However, the unifying sentiment was not in evidence just 100 yards away as Priscilla Marrs waited to pick up her daughter Courtney from her shift as Dunkin’ Donuts.
The 53-year-old didn’t mince words. While she was not convinced Haitians were pet-eaters, she randomly insisted: ‘You just can’t go anywhere without them taking all the groceries.’
She also blamed Haitians for car accidents, saying: ‘There’s wrecks everywhere. I mean, you have to watch it when you drive around here. The crashes, it’s ‘cause of them. I mean everywhere you go. It’s really bad.’
Asked if she had witnessed any Haitians in car accidents, Marrs admitted: ‘Well, no. But they follow you all around in when you’re in Walmart.’ She cited on example of being followed but when asked how she knew they were Haitian, she replied: ‘I mean, I’m assuming they were. Because I mean, that’s all you see.’
Daughter Courtney was equally vocal, saying: ‘I don’t care for ’em. I used to work with them almost four years in a factory.
‘They’re rude, they’re disrespectful. You know, they pretty much had all of our jobs at the car parts place where I used to work. They got their way, with the hours they wanted.’
And in a general swipe – despite Haitians filling employment gaps as Springfield starts to climb out of economic torpor – she added: ‘It’s like, I feel like they’re taking all of our good stuff away from us Americans, like our cars, our housing, a lot of our jobs.’
Wearing a Trump-themed shirt, Jessica McNair alleged that her workplace no longer hires Americans and claimed immigrants receive unfair benefits like housing and welfare, concluding, “This ain’t Springfield, it’s Little Haiti.’
Outside Springfield City Hall, while it remained shut due to the bomb threat, mom-of-three Jessica McNairtook an even more trenchant stance against the newcomers.
Confusingly mixing up the protagonist in the bomb threat that also closed an elementary school, she said: ‘It’s out of control here. I mean, they come over here… I work hard, pay taxes and my child can’t even get an education because we have threats at schools.
‘And they can’t drive, they can’t drive at all. And my rent’s going up because of them, and my insurance is going up, everything’s going up.’
Wearing a t shirt with a picture of a defiant Trump with his fist raised after escaping the assassination bid, and the words ‘You Can’t Kill Freedom,’ the Amazon worker ramped up her attack. ‘My job is full of them, plum full. And I was even informed they’re (Amazon) are not even hiring Americans no more,’ she alleged.
Asked if she had proof of such a hiring policy, she replied: ‘I’ve not got that, but I’ve heard. You go into my place of work and you don’t see no Americans in training. It’s all immigrants.’
And warming to the theme, she continued: ‘This is our country. Then they come here, get housing, they get a car, brand new cars, they get welfare. What about our homeless people being kicked out of their houses just so they can put Haitians in them?
Haitian Sedieu Estache, 26, came to Springfield City Hall to pay his water bill, unaware it was closed, and expressed feeling accepted by the local community
‘They should just go back to their country. They won’t fight for their country? This ain’t Springfield, it’s Little Haiti.’
Military veteran Ken McGravy, 68, said he had no proof of missing pets, or ducks and geese from parks that have also featured in social media allegations against Haitians.
But he did tell DailyMail.com there are ‘suspiciously’ fewer wild birds in the city’s Snyder Park where he walks regularly. He could not be sure why.
Also strolling downtown, he gave his own chilling insight into his home city. ‘There’s a lot of hatred in Springfield,’ he told us. ‘A lot of rednecks who are really racist, and that’s such a sad thing.
‘This circus now has been whipped up through social media and seized upon. I was born in Springfield and I genuinely fear that, knowing the place as I do, bullets might start to fly unless things start to tone down. It’s dangerous.’
Haitian Sedieu Estache, 26, had come to the city hall to pay his water bill, not realizing it was closed. After parking his white Ford Explorer SUV, he smiled as he told us: ‘I’ve never had a problem with the people of Springfield. I feel they accept me.’
The Amazon employee fled Haiti because he supported one of the opposition parties and was constantly receiving death threats at his Port-au-Prince home. After receiving Temporary Protected Status, he headed straight to Springfield three years ago.
‘I was menaced in my own country,’ he said. ‘I feared for my life and felt I had no alternative but to leave. Here, I can make a good life, I can contribute.’
Half a mile away, at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, a group of pastors gathered in a bid to calm what they felt was an ugly situation that was rapidly escalating – an urgency highlighted by the bomb threat.
Pastor Jodie Noble urged for restraint and calm in response to the local violence and threats. She expressed concern over what anger can lead to, hoping it won’t become their reality.
Pastor Jodie Noble told DailyMail.com: ‘We are together today in a call for restraint, an appeal for calm, in response to the violence and the threats that are occurring here.
‘It’s always a surprise what humans can do based on emotion. And I pray that will not be our truth here. We are together knowing that could be a reality, of what anger could produce in people.’
Pastor Carl Ruby of the city’s Central Christian Church, said: ‘In Springfield we stand together and we stand side by side with our new Haitian neighbors. We stand together as conservatives, progressives, Democrats, Republicans, Protestants and Catholics… to remind everyone that God loves immigrants.
‘The real story is not the anger. The real story is for 80 years we were a shrinking city and now we are growing.’
The group was joined by Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian help center, who said: ‘We are here to contribute to the wellbeing of Springfield.’
Of the MAGA attack line regarding pets, he said: ‘High ranking people in power should try to control their narrative. Their rhetoric can affect a community, it can affect an entire country. But we are still optimistic. We have hope.’