Police in Dayton, Ohio, said there is no evidence that immigrants are eating pets, calling new allegations that surfaced online Saturday “irresponsible.”
The police statement came hours after a new video and article surfaced that alleged African immigrants in Dayton were preparing to grill dead cats. The claim was shared by Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Republican vice presidential candidate Donald Trump Jr., and others on X.
Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal said in a statement: “We support our immigrant community and there is no evidence that even remotely suggests that any group, including our immigrant community, is engaged in pet consumption. It is disheartening to see politicians or others use outlandish information to appeal to their constituents.”
The new accusation follows unfounded allegations that Haitian immigrants were kidnapping and eating pets in Springfield, a city less than 30 miles from Dayton. Former President Donald Trump reiterated the claim in Tuesday evening debatedespite statements by city officials that there were no proof of this event.
SATURDAY, Vance reiterated his allegations that immigrants were eating pets, sharing the new allegation on X.
“Kamala Harris and her media apparatchiks should be ashamed,” Vance wrote. “Another ‘debunked’ story that turned out to be true.”
Since Trump announced he would participate in a debate, several bomb threats have been made against schools and hospitals in the Springfield area. On Saturday, Wittenberg University in Springfield announced it was “taking extreme precautions” after receiving an emailed threat of a campus shooting that “targeted Haitian members of our community.”
In response, the FBI told CBS News in a statement that it was “working in coordination with the Springfield Police Department and Wittenberg University to determine the credibility of recent threats, share information and take appropriate investigative steps.”
New claim
Christopher Rufo, a conservative writer and activist, posted the new claim on Substack and the allegations are based on a video originally posted to social media in August 2023.
CBS News confirmed that the original video was first posted to social media in August 2023 by a man who lives in Dayton, Ohio. CBS News reached out to the man for comment but did not hear back as of Saturday afternoon.
The video shows animal carcasses on a grill. The man filming the scene claims, without proof, that they are cats.
“What do they have on the grill?” the man asks in the video. When two cats appear near the grill, the man jokes that the cats “better disappear, it looks like his buddy is on the grill!”
Rufo said he spoke to the man who filmed the video, and the man believes the carcasses were cats. Rufo said he worked on the story with IM-1776, an online magazine, and one of their reporters went to the apartment building where the incident allegedly took place. The reporter spoke to neighbors, who said African immigrants lived in the building. The neighbors told the reporter they believe the people who owned the grill were also African immigrants, though the origin or identity of the residents has not been verified by CBS News.
The new claim has also sparked backlash and skepticism, with many users saying the carcasses looked more like chickens. CBS News reached out to veterinary experts for their thoughts on what kind of carcass is on the grill.
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey J. Mims Jr. also issued a statement, calling the claim “completely false and dangerously irresponsible by politicians seeking to sow division and fear.” Mims said there had been “absolutely no reports of this type of activity.”
