Erika Lee, a Springfield resident whose Facebook post about a neighbor's missing cat sparked the rumors, told Newsguard that she heard it from 'an acquaintance of a friend' who heard it from 'a source.' Lee deleted the post and expressed regret to NBC News about the national firestorm that had ensued, saying, 'If I was in the Haitians' position, I'd be terrified, too.' It was never her intent to demonize the immigrant community.
Springfield city manager Bryan Heck stated that a Vance staffer reached out to him on Sept. 9 to conduct a fact-check about the pet-eating claims. He asked point-blank, 'Are the rumors true of pets being taken and eaten?' I told him no. The rumors have been debunked at virtually every turn by those able to corroborate them.
In response to the accusations Vance has faced and his refusal to back down, he claimed, 'If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.' This statement reflects a strategy of amplifying unfounded narratives to gain media attention.
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