Springfield city manager admitted in March he'd 'heard' about Haitian migrants eating 'domesticated animals'

A video from the Springfield City Commission meeting in March has resurfaced on Twitter, showing the Springfield, Ohio, City Manager Bryan Heck admitting that he had heard stories about Haitian immigrants to the town consuming "domesticated animals." A resident of Springfield spoke to at the meeting and the City Manager, who recently told ABC that this was absolutely not happening, said that he had also heard these reports.

The resident said he understands that the "laws and culture" of Springfield are "180 degrees from what they're used to. And one of the things that I heard that bothered me very much— and I've actually had quite a few people contact me here lately—is some pretty horrid things occurring with the domesticated animals in the neighborhood. We've had some stuff in the park that, um, again, they're being taken advantage of for reasons other than—"

The City Manager shook his head, and the resident, who was already appearing hesitant to speak about these things, said "You can shake your head, Bryan—"

"No, I'm saying, they asked me if there was proof," he said, referring to those around him, "there is no proof. I've heard the same thing."

"People who have confided in me have asked for anonymity," the resident said, "I can't give their names up."

"I mean, we haven't seen the proof that you're talking about, I've heard about it too."

Heck's comments were used to fact check Donald Trump during his recent presidential debate with Kamala Harris. When Trump brought up the concerns about Springfield, relayed to him by his running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance who in turn heard from his constituents in the state.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs," Trump said. "The people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating—they're eating the pets of the people that live there."

"I just want to clarify here," interrupted ABC moderator David Muir, "you bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."

Trump countered "The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food. So maybe he said that and maybe that's a good thing to say for a city manager," going on to say "But the people on television say their dog was eaten by the people that went there." Muir again brought up the city manager, Heck. Heck has been vocal in recent weeks, coming to the defense of his town and community, over which he clearly feels very protective. 

City officials in Springfield have said that they tracked back through 911 calls and attempted to investigate accounts from residents but were not able to get back in contact with them to verify their claims. Many have said that it's racist to allege that migrants are eating animals off the street. It appears that it is perhaps just as stigmatizing to claim Springfield's immigrant neighbors are eating domesticated animals as it is to actually engage in the act itself.

Townhall columnist Dustin Grage shared a call detail obtained from a Springfield resident by the Heritage Foundation's Project Oversight, which records a call a resident made to police in which she claimed that she believed her cat had been stolen by her Haitian neighbors and that they "have it in their backyard."
 

The detail reads, "She thinks her neighbors stole her cat and chopped it up and have it in their backyard. She is adv[ised] the neighbors are Haitian and she doesn't know who they are." It goes on to say that she reported that "her cat went missing" and "has not been seen since." 

"She found 'meat' in the back yard, thinks it was from her cat," it continues. "No bones or fur around the 'meat'. She suspect the Ha[i]tian neighbors. No evidence to support this claim. Unknown if the meat she had was actually cat meat." The detail continues to say that she put the "meat" in her freezer and intended to have it cremated.

The Wall Street Journal later tracked the woman down and she said she found her cat in her basement. Heck also said he spoke to someone from Vance's office.

"He asked point-blank, ‘Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten?’” recalled Heck. “I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports to show this was true. I told them these claims were baseless.”

Other meetings before Springfield city council have seen residents asking while Haitian migrants are being protected, "who is protecting us?" Many Haitians are in the US under the temporary protected status, or TPS program, meaning that due to unrest in their country, they don't have to leave even if they are here illegally. Another man said he'd seen Haitians taking ducks from parks. Others have said they were taking geese. Other reports have alleged that African migrants were grilling and eating cats in Dayton.