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What a week it’s been.

As I wrote last week prior to the Presidential debate—and as you’ve likely seen plastered all over the news and social media—Springfield, Ohio has come under the spotlight for some truly tragic reasons.

Last week, I talked about the extraordinary claims, why I believed them to be lies, and why I knew that Donald Trump would bring them up on the debate stage. Today, I want to talk about the human impact of these lies.

And yes, they are lies.

How do I know this?

First, because the woman who initially spread the rumor on Facebook has apologized and recanted her statement:

Second, because every piece of “evidence” has been debunked

Like this picture, which was claimed to be a Haitian man taking a goose from the local part to eat before being revealed by the Ohio government to just be a random black man cleaning up roadkill:

To conflict entrepreneur Chris Rufo posting a video of chickens on a grill as “evidence that migrants barbecued cats”:

To this tweet alleging a Bosnian neighbor was cooking a dog being proven to be a lamb (forget about the fact that Bosnians aren’t even remotely related to Haitians in geography, politics, genealogy, etc):

Every time supposed evidence of “Haitian migrants eating cats” has arisen, it’s been easily disproven and made subsequent claims of evidence look increasingly desparate.

Carl Sagan made famous the phrase: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Over the last week, we have seen extraordinary claims made, supported by the flimsiest of evidence, provided by unreliable sources, and debunked by the most cursory research.

Third, because all relevant government officials have denied that this is happening

From Republican Governor Mike DeWine:

To the nonpartisan Mayor of Springfield Rob Rue:

To the Mayor and police chief of neighboring Dayton, Ohio:

Time and time again, national politicians make extreme claims about issues in a city or state, only for the leaders in said city or state to loudly and explicitly rebut their claims.

Lastly, because of common sense

Take a look at these maps, which show the top destinations for Haitian immigrants from 2017 to 2021:

It should be pretty obvious that Springfield, Ohio is not the main destination for Haitian immigrants; Florida and New York are. If it were some cultural norm in Haiti to eat animals, where are the reports from residents in Miami or the boroughs of New York City?

Where are the claims from all of these other neighborhoods that have so many more Haitian immigrants than mid-Ohio?

A quick pause

In the last week, you’ve probably seen some of these claims spread on social media and in the news like wildfire. It’s truly astonishing to see how fast fake news can spread. because of this, I’m proud to partner with 1440, a wonderful news publication that avoids the editorializing and the partisan puffery. Check them out below for news you can trust!

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Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The aftermath of a propaganda campaign

Like many times before, Donald Trump’s campaign made an absurd claim to paint him in a favorable light. And like many times before, the conservative media apparatus spun up into overdrive to find evidence to justify his statements.

I have to give them credit—people like Chris Rufo, Julie Kelley, and everyone over at OANN and the Gateway Pundit do a great job at muddying the waters in support of Donald Trump.

But what these apparatchiks fail to consider as they type, tweet, and tailor the facts to fit their narrative is that the pawns in their game of chess are human beings. When they lie about Haitian migrants eating cats, the community they target suffers.

When they create fear about a marginalized community, that community faces threats.

Like bomb threats

In the last week, the City of Springfield has been subjected to over 30 bomb threats. Schools have had to evacuate. Government buildings and medical centers have been shut down. I mapped out all of the known locations to have received a bomb threat in the last week, and it’s pervasive:

There is no place to feel safe in this city. It is a city under siege with bomb threats and roving packs of neo-Nazi thugs.

Or death threats

While all of this fake news and speculation has been circulating, those who have dared to stand up to the rumors and myths have been met with death threats.

That includes Mike DeWine. It includes Rob Rue. And it also includes random citizens like Jamie McGregor who had the audacity to speak positively about his Haitian immigrant employees.

I shared an image from a interview with Mr. McGregor in last week’s post, in which he stated that “Our Haitian associates come to work every day. They don’t have a drug problem. They will stay at their machine. They will achieve their numbers. They are here to work.” This week, he’s being hounded with death threats:

It is not enough to not eat cats. It is not enough to not be a Haitian immigrant. For the vile, hateful people who peddle in these lies, one must not even speak positively of the communities under attack.

Or the threat of the unknown

Vilbrun Dorsainvil fled Haiti after someone tried to kidnap him. Jean Prospere fled after being extorted and threatened with death by local gangs. But now, the situation for these men and their peers in Springfield is not much safer than the situations they fled from. Asked in an interview if he was afraid, Dorsainvil replied: “Before I was not, but right now I can say I am afraid. Right now, I’m afraid there may be a mass shooting on us. That would be terrible.”

These men now live under constant fear. Of being the victim of violence at the hands of local neo-Nazis. Of being struck down in a mass shooting. Of being killed in a bomb blast.

And, based on the extreme claims shared on social media mentioned above, it appears that every immigrant and every person with dark skin in Ohio may feel a similar level of fear. If claims about “Haitians in Springfield” also spreads to “Africans in Dayton” and “random black men in Columbus”, what reason is there to believe that the threats will not spread in the same pattern?

In the wake of the attacks on September 11, Balbir Singh Sodhi was murdered in an act of revenge. Sodhi wasn’t a jihadist. He wasn’t Muslim. He wasn’t Arabic. Balbir Singh Sodhi was a Sikh man who had immigrated to the United States from India in 1989. But because he had brown skin and wore a turban, he was shot and killed.

After the attacks on 9/11, the Sikh community became a target for hate. As ignorant, fearful Americans sought revenge against the perceived perpetrators of the terrorist attack, they took out their frustrations and their hatred on innocent Sikh men. Because of this, a significant percentage of the 500,000+ Sikhs in the United States no longer feel safe here.

I fear that a similar campaign is being waged against Haitian immigrants, and by extension, a large portion of black people in America.

So, where do we go from here?

First, we need to understand why a portion of the right delights in the pain of others

As some of you know, I’m Christian. What you may not realize, however, is that many of those spreading this hate online also profess to be Christian.

Chris Rufo states that he is a Christian.

Donald Trump claims to be a Christian.

J.D. Vance affirms the same.

And Megan Basham, the new right’s favorite example of a “good, traditional Chrsitian woman” has been spreading the aforementioned fake “evidence” about migrants:

But it seems that these people need to pick their bibles back up.

In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus says: “…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now, many of these talking heads are fine with the first commandment. Loving their God is easy. Their God agrees with them on all of the issues. Their God is a populist conservative. Their God’s proclamations all obviously agree with their political positions (as long as you disregard all of the ones that don’t). Their stilted, infantile view of God as the moral justification of all of their worldly political opinion allows them to make God whatever they want Him to be rather than grapple with all of the commandments, including the second.

To love thy neighbor as thyself.

This is the part they struggle with. Of this verse, English minister and biblical scholar wrote (emphasis mine):

I want you to consider for one moment the behavior of the online right in the past week. Think about how they have treated their Haitian brethren. And ask yourself—truly, ask yourself: “Does this behavior line up with how they’ve been commanded to behave?”

I think we both know the answer.

These people willingly spread lies, muddy the waters, and create fear of their brothers and sisters in Christ. And they do so knowing the consequences for these communities.

And they do so for political gain. They do so because it might help their guy get into office. I wrote about this in last week’s post, so if you want the data to back this claim up, check it out here.

In this incredible piece of reporting for The Dispatch, Kevin Williamson lays it out clearly:

Second, we need to look to better role models

We cannot look to Megan Basham, Chris Rufo, or Donald Trump for guidance on how to behave morally. They do not care.

Instead, we can look to how the churches in Springfield are responding to these attacks on their community.

They are standing on the side of truth and fighting back against the lies.

They are repairing the relationships within the community.

And they are extending a hand to their neighbors under siege, making them feel welcome, and expressing how worthy of love and acceptance they are.

To quote J.D. Vance from when he still had a backbone: “Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this, I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us.”

Our Haitian neighbors deserve better. We deserve better. Our country deserves better. So go out, and try to be better. Make yourselves servants to the true welfare of others, and be willing to spend and be spent for them.