Main Character of the Week: The Rise of Fear in Springfield, Ohio

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The Internet is a stage, and someone unwittingly stumbles upon it every week. This makes him the “main character” online. Sometimes their story is heartwarming, for example Kim Kardashian’s Custom Satin Cybertruck; it’s usually a mistake. In any case, that main character energy flows through the news cycle and turbocharges debate for several business days.

Behold The trend teamthe main character of the week.

It is a duck and a goose in Springfield, Illinois.

As the right-wing media, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and former Pres Donald Trump repeat racist claims that Haitian immigrants steal pets in the Midwest, there were consequential.

Like the Daily Dot reported exclusively this week: “Public records from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) reveal that while several callers cited rumors of Haitian immigrants taking geese and ducks in Springfield, Ohio, only two callers confirmed that they directly witnessed one specific animal capture event.

“But the virality covering caused a flood of out-of-state callers, bombarding the agency with unsubstantiated complaints filled with racist messages.”

The southwestern Ohio city has we saw many Haitian immigrants moved there in recent years. Immigration is always a complicated issue in terms of resource management and human rights without easy solutions. What many right-wing politicians have offered instead of solutions is revealing racist fear.

“In Springfield, they eat the dogs, the people who came in, they eat the cats,” the former Trump said during the presidential election debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. It became a popular TikTok remix.

The pet snatching rumors ultimately stem from a March 27 police report, one of two total in the Springfield area about the matter. In it, “three Haitian males caught a live duck and a live goose and put them in a black garbage bag.” The duck seemed to be a mallard; goose a Canada goose. The officer found no evidence of the crimes and went on.

That would have been a misdemeanor, according to our reporting.

The second statement was similar. The case is also gone. As I wrote: “ODNR wrote in a statement to the Daily Dot that the officer was initially unable to contact the witness, but later made contact. No evidence has been found to verify the claim.”

The Trump’s debate line became something of an inside joke among brown people, I learned. On Wednesday, my favorite staff member, Bernardo, came to the house to repair and eventually replace the garbage disposal that I eagerly poked with a broom. I asked if he took any books. He replied, “I take everything except dogs and cats.”

I am I’m going to editorialize and they say Haitian immigrants are very great and make our communities better. Through my Haitian friends that I met coaching youth soccer, I did learned about Haitian culture and the Killer Revolution soup he eats around New Years and my friend Jean texts me when his regular pop-up kitchens are happening so I can get an order in. It’s funny that I pay $30 a plate because I have to cover the cost of very high quality meat necessary for their regional delicacies. Sometimes I’m like hell Jean, it’s kind of expensive. I’m going outside this time.

Haiti is a country that was particularly devastated by the United States. So I can think of fewer people who deserve to be here longer.

That the painting I saw at my hippie vegan brunch spot in Austin, Texas that “nobody’s illegal on stolen land.”

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