Haitians Sue Trump – Fake News About Migrants Eating Cats

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Members of South Florida's Haitian community at a demonstration
Members of South Florida’s Haitian community at a demonstration in West Palm Beach on September 22, 2024. © IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire/Carl Juste

Trump’s false claims about Haitian migrants are now catching up with him: Haitian groups are suing the Republican ahead of the US election for hate speech and defamation.

Miami – It was one of the more absurd moments of the latest TV duel in the US election campaign: Republican Donald Trump claimed in the debate with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating the residents’ pets. This lie from the former US president now has legal consequences for him: Haitian groups filed a lawsuit in the federal court in Miami on Friday (September 27th).

Trump accused of fake news in TV duel – migrants from Haiti complain about hate speech

Defamation, hate speech, incitement to violence and conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Haitian migrants are some of the allegations Trump now faces in the Miami lawsuit. “No one has the right to defame an entire group of people, endanger their lives and destroy their everyday lives by publicly spreading lies and untruths against them,” said the groups The Haitian Diaspora PAC and The Office of the Haitian Diaspora” in the Indictment.

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The defendants “knew the untruths were false, but repeated them for political reasons,” it said. The lawsuit was directed, among other things, against the Republican candidate for vice president, JD Vance. Trump had claimed during the TV duel: “In Springfield they eat the dogs – the people who came in – they eat the cats, they eat the pets of the people who live there.” The authorities of the city in the US state of Ohio had previously rejected these accusations as unfounded.

Trump takes up rumor from Springfield in TV duel against Harris – people from Haiti are suing

The rumor originally started because a woman in Springfield was looking for her cat and accused the Haitian migrants in her neighborhood of allegedly eating the pet. However, the resident later found her cat unharmed in her own basement and apologized to her neighbors.

The conspiracy theory had already spread – including on social media. The Haitian groups’ lawsuit was directed, among other things, against the head of the online platform X, Elon Musk, who had spread the false claim on X.

Fake News About Migrants Eating Pets: Trump Statements Lead to Bomb Threats

Trump’s false claims had serious consequences in Ohio. People from Haiti who had fled violence in their homeland were now also exposed to threats or insults on the street in the USA. Several schools, stores and government facilities had to remain closed due to bomb threats, such as the New York Times reported.

Loud ABC There was also a threat against the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio’s capital and home to the state’s House of Representatives and Senate. It said it contained “derogatory comments about the Haitian population of Springfield.”

Migrants from Haiti have also been receiving support since Trump’s fake news

But there were also expressions of solidarity: long lines formed in front of Haitian restaurants in the city of Springfield, and donations to community health centers and aid organizations for Haitian migrants increased noticeably. “In the last three days we have received about seven times as many cash donations as usual,” said Casey Rollins, executive director of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Springfield The Guardian reported. The right-wing populist Trump is relying on extreme anti-migrant rhetoric in the US election campaign (bme with dpa).

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