Neo-Nazi who left Maine claims credit for ‘eating dogs and cats’ lies

The neo-Nazi who failed to establish a white ethnostate in Springfield, Maine, is claiming a Springfield, Ohio, victory after falsehoods he and his followers have been spreading for months were repeated by former U.S. President Donald Trump during last week’s debate.

No one else is more on top of what is happening in Springfield, Ohio, right now than Blood Tribe, claimed Christopher Pohlhaus, founder of the neo-Nazi group in a social media post immediately following Trump’s remarks about Haitian immigrants eating pets in that city.

Pohlhaus and other Blood Tribe members have been posting on social media sites Gab and Telegram, popular with white supremacists, since mid-summer that Haitian immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield. These messages are accompanied by graphic AI images and videos purporting to show pets being eaten.  

“Our boots are literally on the ground there every week. We are local. We have a network of local informants. We have marched there under the Swastika and we will continue to do so,” Pohlhaus said on Telegram following the Sept. 10 presidential debate. “We put Springfield in the public consciousness.”

National media reports initially attributed the false rumor repeated by Trump to a Springfield, Ohio, woman posting on Facebook. Some outlets have since reported that Blood Tribe spread the false claims as part of a hate campaign against Haitians. Springfield police have reported there is no evidence pets are being eaten.

In 2023, Pohlhaus and Blood Tribe member Fred Boyd Ramey bought 10.6 acres in northern Penobscot County intending to build a training compound. For months, Pohlhaus called on other men to join him in Springfield, Maine, for grueling physical fitness and weapons training through podcasts and messages on Telegram.

A Bangor Daily News article revealed the exact location of his Moores Road property and it became too dangerous to fulfill the compound’s purpose, Pohlhaus said on Telegram. On Oct. 29, Pohlhaus and Ramey sold the property to a Massachusetts man for $39,000, according to Maine Multiple Listing Service.  

After leaving Maine, Pohlhaus linked up with supporters in Northern Wisconsin then moved on to Montana, according to Jeff Tischauser, a researcher for the Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Project. In February 2024, he was seen in Tennessee.

Tischauser said he thinks Pohlhaus has since moved on to Ohio and might be staying with Blood Tribe’s second in command, Drake Berentz, who lives in or near Springfield.

Berentz was removed from an Aug. 27 Springfield, Ohio, City Commission meeting by police for allegedly making threats regarding Haitian immigrants during a public comment period.

“Blood Tribe was successful in amplifying baseless claims to a GOP national audience whether leaders were duped or whether they were intentionally spreading these lies,” Tischauser said.