Democrats Warn About Potential Violence From GOP Immigrant Smears

WASHINGTON — Several Democrats warned this week that unfounded Republican accusations about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets could lead to violence against the Haitian community.

“The biggest problem with this kind of really psychotic rhetoric is that, unfortunately, there are sad and demented people in our country that then do believe these things and eventually attack,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) told HuffPost on Wednesday.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Tuesday made a similar statement, warning that “somebody could get hurt.”

The rumors centered on the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio. On Thursday, officials evacuated Springfield City Hall in response to a bomb threat. Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said the threat came from someone purporting to be from the city who was upset about its handling of the local Haitian population, according to the Springfield News-Sun.

Former President Donald Trump during Tuesday night’s presidential debate blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for allowing Haitian migrants to enter the U.S. and supposedly devour people’s dogs and cats, citing an internet rumor about Haitians in Springfield.

“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said.

The Springfield city manager told The Associated Press on Wednesday that “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) also warned earlier this week about the possibility of violence resulting from the baseless stories about Haitian migrants.

Told of the bomb threat in Springfield,