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On August 27, Springfield, Ohio, native Anthony Harris spoke at a city council meeting about the harm Haitian migrants were having on the local community. Harris's statements eventually started going viral online, culminating in former president Donald Trump bringing light to the issue during Tuesday's presidential debate.

We managed to catch up with Harris while we were in Springfield, where we've been trying to get to the bottom of this sordid story.

“I was concerned for the people in Springfield, Ohio,” said Harris when asked what moved him to speak at the city council meeting. “I was concerned about the amount of traffic accidents; I was concerned that a lot of stuff was different that was going on that I felt like the city of Springfield wasn't handling correctly.”

Traffic accidents were the main focus of his speech, he said. 

But what about the rumours of Haitians eating people's pet cats and/or dogs, or perhaps even sacrificing them in voodoo rituals. “Nobody ever said that,” he quickly interjected. “I don't know who the f*** said something about some cats or dogs, I don't know nothing about no cats or dogs, bro. I never seen no cats or no dogs, none of that s*** happening.”

He did, however, say he had heard about stories about pets going missing but nothing more than that.

Harris was clear to stress his point: “All I said was people are in the parks getting ducks and grabbing them up by they head and cutting them off and eating them because this is a rumour going around the city.”

The rumour appeared to be backed up by a call to police where a resident reported four Haitians walking with captured geese.

“I wanted to help this community,” Harris said, disappointed in the viral moment despite saying he wanted to be a social influencer. “I see why people only worry about themselves.”

So, does he regret speaking to council? 

“Hell yeah, I will never help a motherf***er another day in my life let alone a whole community,” he says. “Help a whole community and this is what I got to deal with?”

Most importantly, Harris says the Haitian migrants need to be taught how to integrate into the community. “Teach 'em how to drive, teach 'em English, teach 'em finances, teach 'em do's and don'ts. Take 'em culture. Teach 'em traffic. Do that.”