Falling for Propaganda from Springfield

Springfield, Ohio is a right-wing propagandist’s dream come true. Baseless rumors that Haitian migrants are eating pets were thrust into the national spotlight when Donald Trump repeated the claims during the presidential debate. Livestreamers and YouTubers have traveled to Springfield to capitalize on the grift and the hate, interviewing people who seem to believe the lies are true.

One video, touted by Benny Johnson (of Russian-funded Tenet Media fame) as proof that Haitian migrants were eating pets, opened with a white man calling a Haitian neighbor a “sorry fucking sand monkey.” Of course, “it’s not about race,” another woman told the YouTuber.

Sure.

Last week there was a seemingly endless stream of videos of white people in Springfield, some of whom have barely arrived to the city themselves, railing against their Haitians neighbors. Many blamed the migrants for their inability to receive government services themselves. The other side wasn’t represented at all. “We’ve offered dozens of haitians $100 to speak with us on camera and theyve all declined,” one content creator complained.

So I tried to recreate the right-wing fever dream I’ve watched play out on Twitter and YouTube. I zoomed in on their videos, noting street names and landmarks, and then I went to each location. There was a grocery store with a parking lot big enough for maybe 10 cars; taking up some of the space was a white guy running a grill (not dog). There was Snyder Park, allegedly once full of the geese and ducks, and now empty of wildlife — I didn’t see many people, but I sure did see a lot of ducks. There was the farmers market, where lamb was being sold for $5.77 a pound, and families gathered for breakfast sandwiches made with waffles.

Birds in Snyder Park; September 14, 2024

Accepting defeat, I decided to go grab food downtown when it finally happened, organically — I walked by a guy from Rumble and Newsmax conducting an on the street interview. Except the content didn’t seem to be exactly what the guy was looking for. The woman he was interviewing told him she was a lifelong resident of Springfield, born and raised in the city. The claims of eating pets were false, she said, and what the town needed was resources, not bullshit.

“That’s not what I have heard,” he told her. She quickly cut him off, saying she didn’t know who he was talking to, but that the hateful rhetoric was believed by only a small minority of residents. The woman, who was black, said she has noticed out of town people looking at her twice, presumably trying to determine if she is Haitian.

As their exchange grew louder, other people stopped to put in their two cents. A white guy driving a pick up truck agreed with the woman; so did another young white woman who enthusiastically talked about her time growing up in Springfield, and her love for the area.

Saturday night, Springfield’s Wittenberg University announced the school would be closed on Sunday due to the threat of a planned shooting that would target Haitian students. So I went to Wittenberg, and I asked the students I ran into what they thought about, well, everything. At first they were cagey, clearly unsure what my own stance was. Once I said I was there to write about the right-wing clown show taking over their town, they relaxed.

The students told me the stories about eating pets weren’t true, and that, beyond the shooting threat, they were worried about the safety of the Haitian population in Springfield. They wondered what would happen to their school if the town becomes known for some kind of race-based violent attack. And they explained they had good reason to be wary of out-of-town media — earlier, people who claimed to be press had tried to get them to say inflammatory things on record.

Of course, I did see the Proud Boys standing around a parking lot for a few minutes — they did not grant me an interview, though, so I don’t know how many of them were locals.

All in all, Springfield is not what I expected. My original plan had been to fly out tonight, but I would like to stay here an extra day. If you would like to help make this happen, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, either via Substack itself, or CashApp/Paypal/Buy Me a Coffee.