Leaders in Springfield, Ohio, appear to have dodged the media and issued only carefully crafted statements about problems associated with the recent influx of Haitian immigrants.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, perhaps up to 20,000 Haitians have been relocated to Springfield, a city that normally has about 60,000 residents. In other words, the city's population has swollen by one-third in recent years, and many of the new residents apparently haven't assimilated to local ways regarding animals and housing.
'I don't know how y'all can be comfortable with this.'
Former President Donald Trump even raised the issue about animals at the debate on Tuesday.
"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs — the people that came in," Trump said. "They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame."
In response, his Democrat opponent, Kamala Harris, shook her head and laughed with condescension and incredulity.
ABC News moderator David Muir almost immediately jumped in to discredit Trump's assertion, quoting from a statement from Springfield city manager Bryan Heck that "there had been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."
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'I [saw] a group of Haitian people — there was about four of them — and all had geese in their hand.'
While much of the national attention regarding Haitian immigrants and possible animal maltreatment has focused on dogs and cats, there are other disturbing allegations relating to animals in the wild. According to reports, Haitians have been taking wildlife, including ducks and geese, from public places such as parks and perhaps slaughtering them.
Anthony Harris, a 28-year-old Springfield resident, claimed during a city commission meeting late last month that "they're in the park grabbing up ducks by their neck and cutting their head off and walking off with them and eating them."
"I don't know how y'all can be comfortable with this," Harris said about all the problems associated with the Haitian immigrants.
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The Federalist also released audio of a phone call made to Springfield police on August 26, reporting that four or so Haitian individuals had taken one goose apiece and absconded with them in a "newer-model" Toyota Tacoma.
"I [saw] a group of Haitian people — there was about four of them — and all had geese in their hand," the man told the dispatcher.
Thus far, local leaders have provided few details about the veracity of these reports about geese and ducks, and most members of the mainstream media have more or less taken these leaders at their word.
As David Muir noted, the office of Springfield city manager Bryan Heck did issue a statement insisting that "there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."
Cleveland.com also shared at least parts of Heck's statement. Whether Cleveland.com shared the full statement from Heck's office is unclear, but none of the quotations from the statement in the outlet's report made mention of the allegations regarding undomesticated animals.
Heck has also recently released a video to address "narratives surrounding our city," but once again, the nearly three-minute video made no mention of the accusations regarding violence against or the stealing of wild animals. In fact, it makes no reference to animals at all.
Instead, Heck spent more than a third of the video — nearly a minute and 10 seconds — discussing the city's "diverse and robust industrial base" and "workforce population."
The closest Heck comes to identifying the allegations of wrongdoing within the Haitian immigrant community is when he refers vaguely to "rumors" and "misinformation ... amplified by political rhetoric in the current, highly charged presidential election cycle."
Heck never clarifies what those "rumors" or "misinformation" are.
Heck did note that "while we are experiencing challenges related to the rapid growth of our immigrant population, these challenges are primarily due to the pace of the growth." He also admitted that his city has endured significant "strain" on its "resources" but never directly tied this strain to the rise in the immigrant population.
Megyn Kelly explained to Glenn Beck, host of "The Glenn Beck Program" on BlazeTV, that such statements from Heck hardly mean that the allegations about animals have been "debunked."
"You can accept the pet testimonials or not," Kelly said, "[but] they have not, in fact, been debunked. You have one city manager who says he can't prove any of that. He hasn't found the proof of it. That does not mean it didn't happen."
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Allegations regarding pets aside, Blaze News wanted further answers about whether Heck or other Springfield officials had heard about the alleged attacks on wildlife. We also hoped to be furnished with a copy of Heck's full statement.
Blaze News called city offices numerous times and attempted to leave messages with Heck, Mayor Rob Rue, and seven other officials who may be able to address some of our lingering questions.
Of those attempts, seven of the calls were abruptly disconnected after they were diverted to "full" mailboxes. Blaze News managed to leave messages for city clerk Regina Jeffers, minority business coordinator Reggie Troutman, and communications coordinator Valerie Lowe. None of those calls were returned.
In addition to the allegations about animals, other disturbing reports about Haitian immigrants in Springfield relate to housing. In some cases, migrant families are reportedly renting rooms in two- or three-bedroom houses so that property owners can effectively double or triple their rental income by cramming several families into one home.
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Blaze News investigative reporter Julio Rosas, who went to Springfield, told Glenn Beck in another recent episode of "The Glenn Beck Program" that in some cases, Springfield landlords are apparently receiving up to $200 a week for each bed in their property, leading to overcrowded residences that may even violate state fire codes regarding building occupancy.
"When you have that many people crammed into ... a two-bedroom, a one-bedroom place but you have 15 people inside, that's a fire hazard," Rosas explained. "But the city has refused to enforce the codes."
"The residents feel that the city commission is just not listening to their problems," Rosas continued, "or they're unwilling to do anything about it."
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Despite the relative silence from local officials, state-level leaders have expressed concerns about many of the problems in Springfield associated with Haitian immigrants. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) announced on Monday that his office is exploring possible legal options to limit the number of immigrants brought into Ohio by the federal government.
"In addition to straining available resources, locals have complained of migrants causing car crashes, stealing property — including livestock, squatting in homes and killing wildlife for food," Yost's press release noted.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R) also called out some problems with immigration and claimed in a statement posted on X that he had met with "local officials" who reported issues regarding "language barriers," infectious disease, highway safety, and health care costs. Husted did not list possible animal misuse or overcrowded housing among his list of concerns.
Gov. Mike DeWine (R) obviously considers the problem of "inexperienced Haitian drivers" in Springfield so dangerous that he has authorized state troopers to assist with local traffic control. Ohio State Highway Patrol "troopers will patrol local roads with the highest crash rates and hold accountable any driver who drives erratically and risks the safety of others," DeWine said.
Even with that clear acknowledgment that some Haitian immigrants pose a threat to public safety, DeWine and Major Garrett of CBS News laughed off other accusations regarding Haitians and animals.
Garrett, evincing his own limited curiosity on the subject, stated on Wednesday that his organization had "found absolutely no truth" to the idea that Haitians were attacking pets. He then asked DeWine derisively: "Governor, I never thought I would ask you a question like this. Is anyone with undocumented status in Ohio, is any legal citizen [or] resident in Ohio eating dogs or cats illegally?"
Trump signed a law in 2018 banning the use of dogs and cats for human consumption, so "eating dogs or cats" would in almost all cases be "illegal." The law does carve out an exception for religious or cultural practices, the Indy Star reported.
Nevertheless, DeWine appeared to smirk in reply and then indicated that such allegations are mere internet bluster, nothing more. "The internet can be quite crazy sometimes," DeWine said. "And like the mayor, Mayor Rue of Springfield, says, no, there's no truth in that. They have no evidence of that at all.
"So I think we'll go with what the mayor says."
Later in their discussion, Garrett suggested that Haitian immigrants may soon become victims, that Trump may have incited bigoted attacks on Haitians by mentioning the allegations regarding pets during his debate with Kamala Harris.
"Do you worry at all, Governor, that that immigrant community could be under greater jeopardy because of scapegoating language like the nation heard [at the debate]"? he asked.
DeWine responded by touting the indefatigable work ethic of Haitian immigrants.
"These Haitians came in here to work because there were jobs, and they filled a lot of jobs," DeWine said. "If you talk to the employers, they've done a very, very good job, and they work very, very hard."
DeWine did not discuss the hardworking nature of Springfield natives or other U.S. citizens in his state.
DeWine and Garrett did mention problems associated with diseases and health care. DeWine even compared the massive influx of immigrants to a "natural disaster."
DeWine also mentioned threats to public safety, especially regarding traffic. According to reports, some new residents are driving along city roads without a proper license or a healthy respect for speed limits and other vehicle-related regulations.
A Haitian immigrant even caused the death of an 11-year-old Springfield boy on his way to school last year when the immigrant crashed into a school bus. The immigrant, 36-year-old Hermanio Joseph, was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide and sentenced to prison for between nine and 13.5 years.
The boy's father, Nathan Clark, recently stated at a city commission meeting that he wished a "60-year-old white man" had killed his son, Aiden Clark, rather than Joseph, a Haitian immigrant, as Blaze News previously reported.
"I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt," Clark said. "But if that [60-year-old white] guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone."
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Thanks to the FCC, those pesky robocalls warning you that the warranty on your vehicle is about to expire may soon become a thing of the past.
On Thursday, the FCC released a statement announcing that it has ordered all U.S. phone service carriers to block these robocalls, which have been traced to 13 individuals and six companies mainly operating out of Texas and California.
According to the statement, these 19 entities are responsible for sending more than eight billion illegal robocalls since 2018, and now, the FCC says, telecom companies are responsible for stopping them. Though the FCC had drawn attention to the robocall issue previously, the agency has now named names so that service providers will have all the information they need to make the calls stop.
“We are not going to tolerate robocall scammers or those that help make their scams possible," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "Consumers are out of patience and I’m right there with them."
If you've been the recipient of one or more of these calls, you know that most of them follow a similar script: a person claims that the company he or she represents has been trying to get a hold of you and that the warranty on your car has expired or is about to expire. Sometimes, this voice furnishes you with some specific information about you or your vehicle to enhance the credibility of the claim. The number that appears on Caller ID is often a local number, to lessen your suspicions and increase the chances that you'll answer.
The FCC said that it has received more complaints about these robocalls than any other issue in the past two years. It also stated that 41 state governments have participated in the investigation into the calls, as have the District of Columbia and Guam. The attorney general for the state of Ohio, Dave Yost, has filed a lawsuit against several robocalling entities as well.
“Our lives are plagued by robocalls like a swarm of flies,” Yost said in a statement. “This particular operation prompted more than 1,600 unwanted-call complaints to my office. It’s time to get out the fly swatter.”
Telecom companies that disregard the FCC order may soon be held liable if the robocalls continue. Acting FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal said that "the Enforcement Bureau will closely monitor voice service providers’ compliance with this order and take appropriate enforcement action as necessary."
H/T: CNN
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) disclosed Monday that his office has not been notified of any 10-year-old rape victims, another red flag suggesting a story promoted by President Joe Biden is not true.
At a press conference last week, Biden spoke about a 10-year-old girl from Ohio who allegedly had to travel to a different state to receive an abortion.
"Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim — 10 years old — and she was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life," Biden said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre even claimed that Biden "spoke to that young woman just to show how extreme the decision on the Dobbs decision was and just how extreme it is now for American public, the American families when there is no exception at all."
The story was first reported by the Indianapolis Star on July 1 and was quickly propelled into the national spotlight. The story is based on claims made by Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist and abortion advocate. However, fact-checkers have been unable to verify the story.
Not only are fact-checkers unable to verify the story, but not a single law enforcement agency has released information corroborating the story.
This is an important detail because Ohio law requires mandatory reporters, like physicians, to report cases of child abuse to law enforcement. The rape of a 10-year-old child, resulting in a pregnancy, should have been immediately reported to law enforcement, who presumably would have opened a criminal investigation into the case.
But Yost told Fox News host Jesse Watters his agency has not heard even a "whisper" about the alleged victim or alleged perpetrator.
"So, Dave, have you had anybody come to you in your state to say we're looking into this? A police report was filed?" Watters asked.
"Not a whisper, and we work closely with the centralized law enforcement system in Ohio. We have regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs," Yost confirmed. "Not a whisper anywhere."
Not only has the Ohio attorney general's office not heard of any case like this, but the state crime lab has received no evidence of any crime, which would have been collected in a case of child sexual assault.
"Something maybe even more telling, Jesse, is my office runs the state crime lab. Any case like this, you are going to have a rape kit, you are going to have biological evidence, and you would be looking for DNA analysis, which we do most of the DNA analysis in Ohio," Yost disclosed. "There is no case request for analysis that looks anything like this."
\u201cBREAKING: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says there is "not a whisper" that a 10-year-old child was raped and impregnated, there has been no request for crime lab results, and that Ohio's heartbeat law would have allowed such a young girl to get an abortion in the state.\u201d— Greg Price (@Greg Price) 1657583035
Yost also confirmed that it would be a crime for a mandatory reporter to fail to report a case of child rape to law enforcement.
"The bottom line is: It is a crime if you're a mandated reporter to fail to report," Yost said. "It's also the fact that in Ohio, the rape of a 10-year-old means life in prison. I know our prosecutors and cops in this state. There's not one of them that wouldn't be turning over every rock in their jurisdiction if they had the slightest hint that this occurred."
The law was designed to stave off interference by foreign actors who have given millions to influence previous ballot campaigns.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said during an interview with Jesse Watters on Fox News Monday night that a police report has not been filed regarding the viral story about a 10-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and impregnated and then fled to Indiana to get an abortion due to the restrictive laws in her […]
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