The woman who started the baseless rumor that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors pets the rumor that Donald Trump cited at his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last week and that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has been promoting online even though he admits that its a lie defended her actions, saying that she cant be racist because shes a part of the LGBTQ+ community and her daughter is biracial.It just exploded into something I didnt mean to happen, said Erika Lee, the woman who started the rumor on Facebook. Related Pete Buttigieg explains exactly why Donald Trump keeps taking about eating cats Its all part of a darker strategy, the out transportation secretary says and its no laughing matter. In a Facebook post two weeks ago, Lee wrote that her neighbors cat went missing: Warning to all about our beloved pets & those around us!! My neighbor informed me that her daughters friend had lost her cat. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Lee wrote that her neighbor, Kimberly Newton, told her that her daughters friend had searched everywhere and then wrote that when Newtons daughters friend came home from work one day, she looked at her Haitian neighbors house and saw her cat hanging from a branch, like youd do a deer for butchering, & they were carving it up to eat. Lee added that she was told they are doing this to dogs as well.That post spread like wildfire among conservatives on social media. One of the Trump-Vance campaigns major promises this election cycle is what Trump is calling the largest deportation in history, so stories whether true or not that portray immigrants in negative light are being spread as a way to convince people to vote for Trump.Within days after Lee posted to Facebook, her story was being cited by Trump in his debate with Harris and Vance was arguing that it was true on social media, despite the lack of evidence other than Lees post and local authorities saying there have been no reported incidents of cats being kidnapped and eaten. Later in the week, the town was shutting down schools and municipal buildings due to bomb threats.But now the story is falling apart. Newton told NewsGuard that shes not the most credible source becuase I dont actually know the person who lost the cat and that she didnt hear about it from her daughters friend, like Lee said, but from a friend who heard about it from a source that she had. I dont have any proof, she said. Lee has since deleted her Facebook post and she told NBC News that she didnt mean for it to get so much attention.Im not a racist, she said. She said that her daughter is half-Black and that she is of mixed race as well and that she is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, according to NBC News. Everybody seems to be turning it into that, and that was not my intent.I feel for the Haitian community, she added, explaining that she pulled her daughter out of school becuase shes worried for her safety. If I was in the Haitians position, Id be terrified, too, worried that somebodys going to come after me because they think Im hurting something that they love and that, again, thats not what I was trying to do.I didnt think it would ever get past Springfield, she said.