Video does not show how Haitian woman was arrested for eating cats

At the center of the recent immigration debate is Springfield, Ohio, where several prominent Republicans made unsubstantiated claims that the Haitian immigrant population was killing ducks and kidnapping pets to eat them.

During the September 10 presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump said, “In Springfield, they eat the dogs, the people who came here, they eat the cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there.”

As the claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield went viral, people on social media are sharing a video clip as evidence of what happened in Springfield. The video appears to be from a police officer's body camera and shows a woman being arrested for eating a cat.

The posts claim that the woman in the video is a Haitian immigrant, implying that the video proves the truth of the unfounded anti-immigrant claims about the situation in Springfield, Ohio.

In the comments on the X-Posts, the authenticity of the video was questioned. VERIFY readers Linda and Ronda also sent us questions about the video.

Does this video show a Haitian immigrant being arrested in Ohio for eating a cat?

• Lt. Dennis Garren, Canton Police Department Media Relations Officer
• Canton, Ohio, police report dated August 16, 2024
• Ohio Secretary of State voter registration list for Allexis Ferrell of Canton, Ohio

No, this video does not show a Haitian immigrant being arrested in Ohio for eating a cat.

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The video does indeed show a woman in Ohio being arrested for killing and eating a cat. But the woman in the video is not a Haitian immigrant and the video was not filmed in Springfield.

The video, captured by a police body camera, shows Allexis Ferrell, a 27-year-old woman from Canton, Ohio, being arrested on August 16, 2024, for allegedly torturing, killing, and eating a cat. Ferrell was charged with pet prohibition, animal cruelty, and disorderly conduct.

Canton is about 170 miles from Springfield. Lt. Dennis Garren, spokesman for the Canton Police Department, told VERIFY, “This incident has nothing to do with what is being reported in Springfield, Ohio.”

Garren continued, “We have no reason to believe she is not a U.S. citizen. She has lived in Canton for many years.” According to court records from Stark County, where Canton is located, there is a court record on Ferrell that goes back to at least 2017.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State's office, Ferrell is also a registered voter in Stark County. To vote in Ohio, you must be a U.S. citizen.

So we can CONFIRM that this video does not show a Haitian immigrant being arrested in Springfield for killing and eating a cat.

Karen Graves, a spokeswoman for the city of Springfield, called the allegations about Springfield “rumors.”

“There are no credible reports or specific allegations of pets being injured or mistreated by individuals from the immigrant community,” Graves told VERIFY. “In addition, there are no confirmed cases of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or dumping garbage in front of residents' homes. In addition, there are no reports of members of the immigrant community intentionally obstructing traffic.”

VERIFY partner station WKYC contributed to this report.