According to the report, Erika Lee, a resident of Springfield, posted to Facebook commenting on a neighbor’s cat who had gone missing — and mentioned that the neighbor had been suspicious the cat might have been attacked by Haitians who lived in the neighborhood.

There was no evidence to support the claim. Moreover, cats often go missing for various reasons, especially those allowed to wander outside.

 

Lee, for her part, feels terrible that her post exploded into a xenophobic panic against the Haitian community, and for the confusion and fear the post caused.

“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” she told NBC News.

Trump, meanwhile, has not offered any apology or retraction for his claims about the Haitian migrants in Springfield, who are in the United States legally and filling vital jobs in a Midwest factory town that for years had been in decline.

Source: ‘It just exploded’: Woman who sparked Trump’s migrant pet-eating hoax comes forward – Raw Story