Activist from Columbus speaks out on hate towards Haitians

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The false claims of Haitians killing and eating residents' pets all began in the city of Springfield, Ohio, where roughly 15,000 Haitian immigrants have now settled.

Sophia Pierrelus is a Haitian immigrant herself, now living in Columbus. She is an activist who helps fellow Haitians in Springfield, and when we talked to her via Zoom, she says this is a bad situation

“Why would we be happy about accusations of eating dogs and cats?” Pierrelus asked.

Pierrelus says the Haitian community has been threatened, and now people are really believing Haitians are after their pets

“(Haitians in the area are) very fearful for their lives, because some of them wants (sic) to move out of Springfield,” she said. “They feel unsafe.”

Pierrelus believes all this hateful rhetoric began last summer, when Haitian immigrant Hermanio Joseph went left of center with his Honda and into the path of an oncoming school bus in Clark County. Twenty-three people were injured in the crash, and 11-year-old Northwestern Local Schools student Aidan Clark was killed. 

Joseph, who did not have a valid U.S. driver's license, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide.   Aidan's dad is calling the crash an accident, and lamented at a Springfield City Commission meeting on Tuesday that this vitriol towards the Haitian community would not be happening if Joseph had been a white man.

“If that guy (a white) killed my 11-year-old son the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone,” Nathan Clark told commissioners.

Cleveland-based immigration attorney David Leopold agrees the rhetoric should not only be toned done; it should go away altogether. He says hating on immigrants hurts everyone, and most of the immigrants in Springfield are here legally.

“They understand the opportunity, they work really hard, they pay taxes at a hirer level, they buy homes at a faster rate, they start business at a higher rate,” Leopold added. “They're the ones who are adding to our economy.

Nathan Clark suffers the loss of his son. He has no resentment towards Hatians and doesn't believe they are killing family pets, but he does resent Aidan being used as a political pawn, and wants the Haitian community to be be left alone.

“Please stop the hate,” Nathan said. “I said to Aidan that I would try to make a difference in his honor. This is it. Live like Aidan.”