Members of Rockland’s Haitian community came out against the ramped-up rhetoric and false stories that have been swirling around the country after former President Donald Trump repeated an unfounded rumor during his debate with vice-president Kamala Harris that vice-presidential candidate JD Vance has been telling about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eating people’s pet cats and dogs. Renold Julien is the head of Konbit Neg Lakay, the Haitian-American Center of Rockland. At a press conference yesterday outside their Spring Valley office, Julien said the angry rhetoric and threats reminded him of the 1990s, when Haitians were blamed for spreading AIDS…
President of the Hudson Valley Haitian American Nurses Association, Florence Pierre-Pierre, said she can’t understand why her community is constantly subject to false rumors…
Ramapo is believed to have the second largest Haitian-American population in the nation per capita, and Supervisor Michael Specht said the rumors and stories are a form of “blood libel”…
Former State Senator Elijah-Reichlin Melnick said the scare tactics used by some on the right are predictable…
Growing up in Spring Valley, and throughout his career, former Congressman Mondaire Jones said he’s always felt close to Rockland’s Haitian community…
Rockland State Senator, Republican Bill Weber, told “The Morning Show” yesterday that he was appalled by the statements made by former President Trump…
In a statement last week, GOP Congressman Mike Lawler spokesman Nate Soule said, “Congressman Lawler has not seen independent verification of the wild claims that have been spread by some about the Haitian community, and he encourages his colleagues to exercise great restraint when spreading unfounded theories and claims based off of posts on Facebook.”