A man claimed migrants were killing ducks in the park. In just two weeks, that rumour had spread to Donald Trump

In just two weeks, a neighbourhood rumour went global, amplified by presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.

Here is how a baseless claim about Haitian immigrants eating pets became the source of a bomb threat and Republican in-fighting.

What happened?

During a debate against his opponent Kamala Harris this week, Trump claimed Haitian immigrants have been “eating the pets” of Springfield, Ohio residents.

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“Look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States,” he said.

“And a lot of towns don’t want to talk about it because they’re so embarrassed by it.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

David Muir, one of the two debate moderators at the time noted there had been no credible reports of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals in the immigrant community.

But Trump insisted he has “seen people on television” making such claims.

Springfield city manager Bryan Heck later said he was disappointed misinformation has skewed narratives about the city.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican politician, has also attempted to dispel the rumour.

The Haitian community in Springfield

According to the Associated Press, the western Ohio city “suffered a decline in its manufacturing sector toward the end of the last century” but the economy has been revitalised by the arrival of legal immigrants.

A raft of job opportunities and a lower cost of living were the main drawcards for migrants moving to the area, and officials say Haitians now account for about 15 per cent of Springfield’s population.

So how did the rumour start?

Tracing the origins of internet rumours can be difficult and convoluted.

This is no exception.

There have been multiple sources, sharing different pieces of “evidence” that are bolstering the claim.

The first mention appears to have been at a Springfield City Commission Meeting on August 27.

A local resident, who described himself as a social media influencer, ran through a list of grievances he had with Haitian immigrants in the city.

Among the claims, for which he provided no evidence, he said immigrants were “in the park, grabbing up ducks by their neck and cutting their head up and walking off with them and eating them”.

Then, a claim was made in private Facebook groups.

In posts to crime pages Springfield Ohio Crime and Information and Springfield, Ohio Crime Monitor, someone claimed a friend of their neighbour’s daughter had lost her cat and later found it hanged in a tree branch.

The rumour then cropped up on X and gained steam.

Posts with video and photo attachments have been lending false legitimacy to the claim, despite them being debunked.

Many point to an image of a man carrying a goose as he walks along a sidewalk.

But that photo originated from a Reddit post in late July and was taken in Columbus, Ohio – 80 kilometres from Springfield.

Emmanuelle Saliba, a senior reporter for America’s ABC News, reported, according to the photographer, there was no indication the man in the photo was a Haitian immigrant.

Police body cam footage from late August has also been a common attachment on posts spreading the claim.

While the video shows the arrest of a woman who allegedly killed and ate a cat, the incident took place in Canton, Ohio – not Springfield as the posts claim.

Canton police have also confirmed the woman is not Haitian, but a US citizen.

With the misinformation permeating conservative social media spaces, the unfounded claim found its way into Trump’s purview.

The rumour lands in Trump’s camp

In the fallout from the debate, Republicans have reportedly begun pointing the finger at Laura Loomer, a right-wing conspiracy theorist.

Loomer was photographed disembarking Trump’s private plane when it landed in Philadelphia ahead of the debate, and on Wednesday she joined the former president in New York to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11.

The internet personality has spread numerous unfounded claims online in the past, including promoting a conspiracy theory that 9/11 was an “inside job” and alleging Kamala Harris cheated by wearing an earpiece during the debate.

In the lead-up to the debate, she had made numerous Tweets referencing the Springfield misinformation.

Loomer has told the Associated Press she does not work for the Trump campaign and she was “invited as a guest” to travel with him.

Republican senator Lindsey Graham told HuffPost he didn’t think Loomer’s inclusion in the campaign was productive.

“We have policy disagreements, but the history of this person is just really toxic,” he said.

“I mean, she actually called for Kellyanne Conway’s daughter to hang herself.

“I don’t know how this all happened, but, no, I don’t think it’s helpful. I don’t think it’s helpful at all.”

Social media flooded with memes

Following Trump’s mention of the unfounded theory on the debate stage, social media has been flooded with memes, produced by people on either side of the political spectrum.

For conservative social media users, this has been egged on by Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, who asked followers on X to keep AI-generated images of the former president surrounded by cats, dogs and birds coming.

Meanwhile, others have satirised the outlandish nature of the claims.

A bomb threat is called

With Springfield launched into international attention in the wake of Trump’s debate appearance, the city was forced to close its city hall and numerous other buildings due to a bomb threat.

In a post to Facebook, city officials said they were alerted to the threat via an email at 8:24am on Thursday morning, local time.

“As a precautionary measure, the building has been evacuated, and authorities are currently conducting a thorough investigation,” the statement said.

“Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our employees and residents.”

According to the Springfield News-Sun, the city’s mayor, Rob Rue, said the threat was made by someone claiming to be from Springfield, who mentioned frustration over its Haitian community.