STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.
Does a video show a Haitian man in Springfield, Ohio, cutting up an animal or a pet with a machete in public? No, that's not true: Police said the person who shot the video told them the man was cutting up "a big ass ham." The Springfield Police Division said there is no evidence to support the claim that "a 'pet' or 'companion animal' was being butchered."
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on YouTube on October 7, 2024, under the title "
But they not eating the animals๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ Springfield Ohio HATIANS ON FILM BUTCHERING PETS! If you defend this behavior you are sick!
This is what the post looked like on YouTube at the time of writing:
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Tue Oct 8 16:10:20 2024 UTC)
Copies of the video circulated widely on social media, including this post (archived here) on X, formerly Twitter, on October 8, 2024, which has racked up millions of views. The video's caption said:
๐จ SPRINGFIELD, OHIO:
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ.
This video was taken by a resident of the Red Couch Apartments.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Wed Oct 9 16:25:26 2024 UTC)
Neither post provides additional evidence to support its claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were "butchering pets" or "chopping an animal apart." It does not offer an address or any identifying features to pinpoint the alleged site, either in that city or elsewhere. Furthermore, it is impossible to determine whether the man in the video is Haitian or of any other nationality, or if he is cutting up a pet as opposed to something else.
Springfield Police Division
Lead Stories asked the Springfield Police Division (SPD) whether the agency knew anything about the purported butchering incident in their community. In an October 9, 2024, statement provided by Karen Graves, a strategic engagement manager for the City of Springfield, the SPD said it had received "no reports or calls" related to the social media video that first appeared online on October 7, 2024. The statement continued:
On October 8th, SPD took the initiative to reach out and clarify in an attempt to gather factual information, as there were multiple allegations being made in relation to the post, but still nothing reported to local authorities.
A Lieutenant Detective spoke with the individual who recorded the video, and the individual told them that they had recorded a person cutting up what was described as, 'a big ass ham' in the backyard of an apartment complex. The individual also clarified that there was no blood, or fur that was observed when the Lieutenant asked for additional clarification.
When asked by the Lieutenant if he or anyone called police to report the situation, the individual replied that he had not because he did not believe anything illegal was going on. He also shared that he did not post the video himself, on social media.
The statement continued:
On that same day, patrol officers responded out to the area where this situation allegedly occurred and located a tree stump that had what was described as, remnants of 'gristle meat.'
At this time, there is no evidence to support that a 'pet' or 'companion animal' was being butchered by this individual in this video, as claimed in comments made on the FB post.
Since September 2024, Lead Stories has debunked multiple claims about pets being eaten by or disappearing at the hands of Haitian immigrants in Springfield and elsewhere.
The police statement said this continues to be true in their community:
Springfield Police Division takes all reports and allegations seriously and will continue to investigate these matters thoroughly. At this time, we have no information or evidence that supports claims that individuals are killing and eating pets or companion animals.
In an October 10, 2024, email to Lead Stories, Graves added that the "video was taken in the vicinity of" the Red Coach Village Apartment Homes in Springfield, as one of the social media posts suggested when it misspelled the name of the complex, saying, "This video was taken by a resident of the Red Couch Apartments."
Read more
Other Lead Stories fact checks on claims about immigrants are here.
Updates:
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2024-10-10T15:36:59Z 2024-10-10T15:36:59Z Adds context from a spokesperson for the City of Springfield, Ohio.
