Brunswick Beacon, 09.26.24
At the Harris/Trump debate, when Trump shouted, “In Springfield they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats,” you probably figured it was just another bizarre outburst from someone who told 30,573 lies as president. The truth is even more disturbing.
Trump’s absurd claim began as a blood libel by neo-Nazi hate group Blood Tribe, which falsely claimed that Haitians were killing and eating pets. A dozen Nazis carrying swastikas marched through downtown Springfield on August 10 in what they called an “anti-Haitian immigration march.”
Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine said there was “no credible evidence” of the Nazis’ claim. Springfield’s Republican mayor Rob Rue said it’s “just not true.”
That didn’t deter Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), and Trump’s campaign from repeating and amplifying the Nazis’ lie.
The hysteria started last year when 11-year-old Aiden Clark died in a motor vehicle accident involving a member of Springfield’s growing community of legal Haitian immigrants. During a Springfield city commission meeting before the debate, Aiden’s father Nathan said, “JD Vance and Donald Trump have spoken my son’s name and used his death for political gain. This needs to stop now.”
It didn’t. When Trump repeated the lie, Blood Tribe's leader Christopher Pohlhaus bragged that Blood Tribe “pushed Springfield into the public consciousness.” The Nazis celebrated: “The president is talking about it now,” one member wrote. “This is what real power looks like.”
When bomb threats closed three Springfield elementary schools, a middle school and city hall, Mayor Rue blamed Republican politicians for “hurting our city,” saying “it was their words that did it." Trump ignored him, promising “mass deportations” of Springfield’s Haitians if elected.
Dividing Americans with hatred and fear, Trump and Vance are a Nazi dream come true. You can prevent that nightmare by electing a president for all Americans. Vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Kristine Garrity
Calabash
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