Ohio police have released disturbing footage of a woman accused of brutally stomping on a cat's head before eating the animal in front of shocked onlookers. Allexis Ferrell, 27, was found with "fur on her lips and blood on her hands" when officers responded to calls from alarmed residents in Canton on August 16, the Daily Mail reported.
The bodycam footage of the incident was made public after Donald Trump's claim that Haitian migrants are killing and eating their neighbors' pets. The GOP candidate fueled rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield have been eating the town's pets including cats and dogs. This allegation sparked intense reactions during Tuesday's presidential debate.
Shocking Revelation
"Officers were able to determine that Allexis had smashed the cat's head with her foot and then began to eat the cat," police wrote in their report.
However, Ferrell—who is currently the only person reported to have eaten a cat in the state—was identified as an American from Canton, a town located 170 miles away, the outlet reported.
The unsettling footage begins moments after police arrive and find a "female squatting on a cat which appeared to have its head smashed in and the female with her hands on it."
Officers immediately confront Ferrell and instruct her to put her hands behind her back. One officer comments, "Someone got rubber gloves? She's covered in blood."
Ferrell remains silent when asked for her address and as her Miranda rights are read to her. Meanwhile, a visibly disturbed officer advises a colleague to place a blanket in the back seat of their patrol car.
"Smile for me. Go like this," he says as he holds up a camera, "Did you eat that cat? Did you eat it?"
She shows her teeth for the photo and gives a slight shake of her head but remains silent.
"Why did you kill it?" the officer asks.
"I don't know," she replies in a soft voice.
"Get in there. This is ridiculous," he says, pushing her into the car.
The Claim and the Mystery
The first reports of pets being eaten in Springfield were brought up during a city commission meeting on July 30. Angry residents used the meeting to express their frustrations about the 15,000 Haitians who have arrived in the area on Temporary Protected Status since 2020.
"I really challenge you guys to get out here and do something,' one angry resident told the meeting.
"These Haitians are running into trash cans, running into buildings, they're flipping cars in the middle of the streets."
"They're in the park, grabbing up ducks by their neck, and cutting their head off and walking off with them. They're eating them."
An anonymous individual on a Springfield residents' Facebook group claimed that a "friend of a neighbor's daughter" had reported her cat missing.
Authorities and city officials in the town have been adamant that there have been no reliable reports of migrants harming pets.
However, the rumors gained traction when Trump's running mate, JD Vance, mentioned them, and they were subsequently brought up by the former president during his debate with Kamala Harris.
"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs,' he told her. 'The people that came in. They're eating the cats.
"They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there.
"And this is what's happening in our country."
When ABC moderator David Muir told Trump that there were no credible reports to the authorities, the former president insisted that he had "seen people on television" discussing the issue.
"The people on television say my dog was taken and used for food," he added.
A spokesperson for Springfield police also denied the claims. "In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," he said on Tuesday.
Ferrell is currently held in the Stark County Jail, facing a charge of cruelty to companion animals, which is a fifth-degree felony.
A 2015 graduate of Canton McKinley High School, she has an extensive criminal record that includes charges for cocaine possession, receiving stolen property, and endangering children.
Canton police spokesperson Dennis Garren clarified, "The suspect is not a Haitian immigrant. She is a lifelong resident of Canton."
Her bail is set at $100,000, and she is due to face a competency hearing before Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank G. Forchione on October 15. Ferrell has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
