The city of Springfield, Ohio, increased security as viral, false claims about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets continues to spread after being raised by former President Donald Trump and his partner, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday afternoon that he was sending three dozen state troopers to provide additional security to schools in the city after “a series of unfounded bomb threats.”
“Look, parents are scared, and when parents are scared, we have to react. And I don’t blame them,” DeWine said in an interview with CBS News.
The Republican governor said in a statement that many of the threats “come from overseas” from people “who want to fuel discord now surrounding Springfield.”
DeWine has pushed back against him false claims about immigrants, saying they believed city officials who said they had received no credible reports of such actions.
“The internet is the internet. Crazy stuff is on the internet. You read crazy stuff all the time. It’s going to spread. And I think sometimes, you know, it just happens. So my job, I think, and the Mayor’s job, is to say, ‘Look, this is not true,’” DeWine said.
The decision to station state troopers came after two elementary schools in Springfield were evacuated and two local colleges moved classes online because of the threat. The city also canceled a major cultural festival at the end of the month as a safety measure.
“If they just back off their words a little bit, this can help our neighborhood. This will help. We need help, not hate. We need help,” Springfield Mayor Rob Rue told CBS News.
Over the weekend, members of the far-right Proud Boys were seen walking the streets, and branches of the Ku Klux Klan distributed leaflets with hateful messages.
Last week, Vance shared baseless rumours on social media, saying, “Current reports indicate that people have been kidnapped and eaten by people who should not be in this country.”
Trump then repeated when he debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. “In Springfield, they’re eating dogs – people who come in – they’re eating cats,” Trump said in the debate. “They’re eating – they’re eating the pets of people who live there. And this is happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
Vance addressed the controversy over the weekend, saying he condemns all violence, but also defended shows that the claims are misrepresented and refuses to correct the record.
“People are frustrated with the national media attention. Some people are also grateful that someone is finally paying attention to what’s going on,” said Vance in “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “You’re never going to get this thing perfect.”
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Vance said, “If I have to make a story so that the American media will actually pay attention to the suffering of the American people, then I will.”
When asked if it was okay for the senator to do something, DeWine said, “Well, I don’t know if that’s the point. , and it’s a problem on our southern border.”
The governor acknowledged that there are challenges that come with 15,000 immigrants living in a city with a population of less than 60,000 in the past few years – like an overburdened health care system.
In Springfield’s Little Haiti, Romane Pierre is the manager of a Creole restaurant who has been bombarded with phone calls. He believes Vance owes him an apology.
“A lot of people call me and say, ‘Are you selling cats, are you selling dogs?’ I said, ‘No, we don’t sell that kind of stuff,'” Pierre said.
“Haiti is a good person,” he said.
Nicole Killion
