SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Clergy from multiple faiths are banding together to support Haitians who have been thrown in the national spotlight over unfounded rumors circulating about their community.
Bishop William Barber II, senior lecturer and president of Repairers of the Breach and founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School, stood in front of the Greater Grace Temple to address community members and fellow clergy at a prayer vigil on Sunday..
"It's gone on far too long," Barber said. "Take your lies off of the Haitian people. Stop it, stop it, stop it."
The gathering was in response to false statements about Haitian immigrants eating pets, which spurred a national conversation after both vice presidential candidate JD Vance and former President Donald Trump spoke about the rumors.
“We didn’t come here as Republicans. We didn’t come here as Democrats. We didn’t come here on the left," Barber said. "We didn’t come here on the right. We came here in the moral tradition of love and truth and justice.”
Community members said the unwavering support, love and commitment to the truth is what they love to see after weeks of uncertainty. People from across the country came to help show support, including Lana Joseph, 48, an immigration attorney from Atlanta.
“The support from different communities has been overwhelming and we appreciate that because we see that we are not alone," said Joseph. "And that we stand together as a group, as a people.”
She said while she's focused on the positive, the story has resulted in threats of violence and fears of it getting worse.
“As a Haitian I go anywhere I’m looking at my left and right. There are people making smart remarks or making jokes. I think it’s very offensive. I don’t joke around with this," Joseph said. “I have my clients here who call me worried about their safety and worried about their immigration case like what impact will that have on their case.”
The rumors have swept social media and have drawn more of the city into the situation as more than 30 hoax bomb threats were made within a week at city buildings, hospitals, businesses and schools.
“This eating dogs and all this other stuff, frankly it gets in the way of what people are trying to do," Gov. Mike DeWine said in a Sept. 20 interview with Spectrum News. “Then when you start getting the threats coming in from overseas and other places – all bogus – this really scares kids and their families.”
DeWine asked for people to lower the rhetoric, and Barber agreed, asking attendees to sign a letter he plans to send to Trump and Vance to cease talking about the false claims.
“This should not be at the center of a national campaign," Barber said. "This kind of thing takes us away from what we really ought to be talking about.”