Man Arrested For Killing Geese In Springfield Was Not Haitian

A 64-year-old white man in Springfield, Ohio, was accused of illegally hunting geese at a golf course pond as former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, were spreading racist lies that Haitian immigrants in the area were eating geese and people’s pets.

Brian Comer was charged with a misdemeanor in connection with the Sept. 10 incident. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by HuffPost, a golfer at Rocky Lakes Golf Course in Springfield reported seeing a Canada goose floating in a pond and Comer using a shotgun to shoot another bird.

Comer didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from HuffPost, but court records show he entered a guilty plea. A court spokesperson told HuffPost he paid $200 to cover a fine and court fees.

Journalist Steven Monacelli first posted about the arrest on Thursday on X, formerly Twitter.

According to the affidavit by an Ohio Division of Wildlife officer, the golfer approached Comer about the dead goose in the pond, and Comer said there would be several more dead geese in a few minutes. Comer reportedly then got on his lawnmower with a shotgun and fired twice, killing a second goose.

The golfer told police that Comer picked up the first goose and tossed it into the weeds and then broke the neck of the second bird, which had been wounded, according to the affidavit.

Officers who spoke with the golf course manager the following day learned that Comer was an employee, according to the affidavit. The manager told authorities that she allowed several individuals, including Comer, to hunt on the property and claimed he should have all appropriate licenses and permits.

However, when authorities checked with the Division of Wildlife’s licensing and harvest database, Comer did not have certifications to hunt migratory birds, according to the affidavit.

Comer told authorities over the phone that he was cutting the grass at the course that day and wanted to shoot a few geese but admitted he did not have the necessary license and permits, according to the affidavit. He instead said he believed he was permitted to do so, thinking the golf course had a nuisance permit. (The state allows the killing of geese under nuisance permits only from March to August.)

According to court records, Comer was arraigned on Sept. 18 on a fourth-degree misdemeanor count of prohibited activities against state-owned wild animals.

The incident at Rocky Lakes Golf Course happened on the same day as the presidential debate between Trump and the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. During the debate, Trump repeated the baseless claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets. At a rally two days later, he falsely accused immigrants of taking ducks and geese from Springfield parks and trails.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has said it found no proof of Haitian immigrants taking geese or ducks; a viral photo of a Black man holding a goose was actually taken in Columbus, where there has also been no evidence of Haitian immigrants harming animals, USA Today reported. A Facebook post that spread a rumor about a Haitian immigrant killing a cat has also been debunked, and the woman behind it told NBC News she regretted posting it. In spite of that, the racist lies have spread on far-right social media accounts and among Republican politicians.

The racist tales have caused real harm against Haitians who are legally living in Springfield, according to a local nonprofit. The Haitian Bridge Alliance has filed a criminal affidavit seeking Trump’s and Vance’s arrest after attributing more than 30 “widespread bomb and other threats” against their community.

The group filed a supplemental affidavit on Wednesday following the vice presidential debate, claiming that Vance effectively admitted on stage that he had been lying about Haitians in Springfield when he protested CBS’ fact-checking about their legal status.

“Not only did Vance lie again during the debate about legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, by protesting fact checking, he admitted he was lying,” Subodh Chandra, the Haitian Bridge Alliance’s lead counsel, said in a statement. “He knows the harm he’s inflicting and doesn’t care. That’s criminal.”