Buckeye Reporter

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said the media is favoring a City Hall press release over eyewitness accounts of migrants capturing geese for food in Springfield. In a social media post on September 11, Yost pointed to police reports and citizen testimony as credible evidence, questioning why these were being dismissed in the ongoing debate over immigration in the community.

“There’s a recorded police call from a witness who saw immigrants capturing geese for food in Springfield,” Yost wrote in a Sept. 11 social media post on X. “Citizens testified to City Council. These people would be competent witnesses in court. Why does the media find a carefully worded City Hall press release better evidence?”

According to a report by The Federalist, audio and police reports confirm that a group of Haitian migrants was spotted carrying geese in Springfield, leading to concerns among local residents. A caller reported seeing four migrants, each holding a goose, and the incident occurred on August 26. The town, a Columbus suburb, has become a focal point in the national debate on immigration, with residents sharing alarming stories about the behavior of new migrants. These include allegations of public harassment and the killing of local wildlife, leading to fears about safety and strained local resources. 

The influx of over 20,000 migrants has caused significant tension, with residents expressing frustrations at city meetings, feeling unprotected and overwhelmed by the challenges brought on by the sudden population surge.

During the presidential debate, ABC fact-checker David Muir said that ABC News reached out to the city manager of Springfield and found “no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” after candidate Donald Trump claimed that migrants in Ohio were killing and eating pets.