Until recently, Springfield, Ohio, was best known as the fictional hometown of "The Simpsons" animated series.

The city has gained renewed attention due to a disinformation campaign targeting Haitian immigrants.

This week, unfounded claims circulated on social media that claimed Haitian immigrants in Springfield are stealing residents' pets and taking wildlife from local parks for food. Despite local authorities debunking those claims, the narrative gained more traction when former President Donald Trump brought up the allegations during Tuesday night's presidential debate.

The false claims have continued to spread, including by several Republican politicians like Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Trump's presidential running mate, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Social media users have taken the narrative further, asserting that sacrificing animals like cats is a common practice in Haitian Vodou, which blends African spirituality and Catholicism.

Here's a look at how the claims originated and evolved:

Images taken out of context to fuel a disinformation campaign

The rumors began with two viral posts alleging that Haitians in Springfield had eaten a neighbor's cat and were capturing wild geese for food.

Claim: The viral image shows Haitian migrants stealing wild animals and pets.

The image shows a man carrying a Canada goose, which is a protected species in Ohio. It is often shared with the claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield are eating pets.

Many users have shared a collage of the image andscreenshots of a post that says: "Warning to all about our beloved pets and those around us. My neighbor informed me that her daughter's friend had lost her cat. She checked pages and kennels, asked around, etc. One day she came home from work, and as soon as she stepped out of her car, she looked toward a neighbor's house where Haitians live and saw her cat hanging from a branch, like you'd hang a deer for butchering, and they were carving it up to eat. I've been told they're also doing this to dogs and at Snyder Park with ducks and geese."

This post appears to originate from a Facebook group about local crime stories.

DW Fact check: False

The claim that the photo shows a Haitian migrant in Springfield is false, and there's no evidence that migrants in Ohio have stolen pets or geese to eat them. A reverse image search (RIS) leads to a month-old Reddit post claiming the image was taken in Columbus, Ohio's state capital, 45 miles (77 kilometers) east of Springfield.

DW geolocated the image and confirmed it was taken in Columbusat this location.

Springfield police told local media that there were no reports of stolen pets. In a statement on Tuesday, a Springfield police spokesperson told local media, "In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we want to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."

The individual who captured the photo clarified that it was not evidence of any wrongdoing.

No evidence to prove Haitian migrants stole and ate pets

Nevertheless, the Springfield rumor gained traction after being confused with an unrelated incident in Canton, Ohio. A woman, unconnected to any immigrant group, is suspected of killing and eating a neighborhood cat.

Social media users shared bodycam footage of the woman's arrest in Canton to falsely claim that the individual involved was a Haitian migrant in Springfield who killed the cat to eat it.

However, Ohio policerecords show that the suspect, Allexis Telia Ferrell, is a resident of Canton, a town some 160 miles (258 kilometers) east of Springfield. According to public records, she is an American citizen who has lived in the US for at least 18 years. Moreover, officials in Springfield told local mediathey have not received any credible reports of immigrants abducting or eating pets.

AI images also part of the disinformation campaign

Numerous AI-generated images that have gone viral has added to the disinformation campaign. Some depict Donald Trump holding kittens and ducks, while others show him carrying these animals away from black individuals with captions like "Trump for pets" or "save the pets, vote for Trump."

There are also digitally altered images of Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic rival in the presidential election. They including one where she is purportedly cooking a cat in a pan, a manipulated image based on a screenshot of a video of Harris is cooking with her family.

A more serious aspect of the disinformation campaign is several viral videos that purport to show

residents of Springfield claiming that these narratives are realand they have heard of pets being stolen.

Cats and dogs not part of Haitian Vodou

The campaign reached a new level when some users claimed that sacrificing animals, including cats, is a common practice in Haitian Vodou rituals.

Elon Musk, owner of X, shared one of these videos with his 197.3 million followers. In it, a woman who claims to have a Haitian background states that sacrificing animals like cats is a common practice among Haitians, one linked to their Vodou culture. Most Haitians live in poverty, so eating cats might not be uncommon there, the user alleged.

Numerous other videos with similar claims have also gained millions of views.

Experts have dismissed these claims, including Dr. Ingrid Kummels, a Latin American ethnologist at Freie Universität Berlin. "Afro-Caribbean religions, including Haitian Vodou, only involve the sacrifice of animals considered edible, such as chickens and goats. Cats and dogs are not part of these practices," Kummels told DW, adding that animal sacrifices in Vodou are reserved for significant rituals.

Dr. Grete Viddal, an independent ethnologist specializing in Caribbean Vodou culture, noted a long-standing expression about Haitians and cats. "There's an expression in Haiti about extreme poverty, saying someone is so poor they might have to eat cats. But the idea that Haitians eat cats in Vodou rituals is pure fiction. It's simply not true," she told DW.

Viddal also pointed out that Vodou has long been stigmatized, a trend that began during the US occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1930. Unable to comprehend the rituals they encountered, American soldiers often associated Vodou with satanism. Viddal said Hollywood later perpetuated this misconception, which inspired horror films like "White Zombie" from 1932. 

The Vodou stigma has persisted for years in the US. Televangelist Pat Robertson controversially claimed that Haiti's devastating earthquake in 2011 was a result of Haitians making a "pact with the devil" to gain independence from France.

Racist rhetoric against migrants from Latin America

Haitians are not the only ethnic group facing these baseless accusations. Recently, conservative media in the US have circulated unfounded rumors about immigrants from Latin American, including a false claim that a Venezuelan gang took over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado,that authorities later debunked.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committeeheld a session titled "The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives," focusing on the alleged effects of the administration's border policies. Individuals affected by "fentanyl poisoning" gave testimonials about crimes committed by "illegal aliens."

These falsehoods are part of a broader trend in US right-wing rhetoric

during the 2024 presidential election campaign, which often employs racially charged language to target migrant groups. This strategy extends to attacks on Vice President Harris's racial identity and attempts to discredit her immigration policies.

Edited by: Rachel Baig