At least 33 bomb threats have been made in Springfield, Ohio, since false claims — which were pushed by former President Donald Trump and his running mate — surfaced about Haitian migrants eating people’s pets, the governor said.
All of the threats have been determined to be hoaxes. Some targeted Springfield schools, including elementary campuses, Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday at a news conference after meeting with city officials.
“Our children deserve to be in school. Parents deserve to feel that their children are being educated and that their children are safe,” DeWine said.
Last week, schools in the city of around 58,000 were evacuated after bomb threats. City Hall also received a threat against city facilities.
The threats come in the days after Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, spread online a false claim that Haitian migrants were causing problems in Springfield and that “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”
Trump repeated the false claim — which has been denied by city officials and police — on stage at the ABC presidential debate the next day.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said at the debate.
Springfield police said they have no credible reports of immigrants harming people’s pets.
Mayor Rob Rue called it “a lie” that is being repeated online, and called for it to stop.
DeWine said Monday that some of the threats are coming from overseas.
“Some of them are coming from one particular country,” he said. “We think that this is, you know, one more opportunity to mess with the United States. And they’re continuing to do that.”
Since the threats, tower cameras have been put in place in Springfield, the state arranged for bomb-detecting dogs, and state law enforcement officers are being sent to help respond, officials said.
“The people who are doing this, are doing this to sow discord in our community and to disrupt our ability to do our normal functions that we have to do,” said Andy Wilson, director of the state Department of Public Safety. “And we just can’t let them do that.”
There are 17 school district buildings in Springfield. The Highway Patrol will do sweeps before school in every building, regardless if they have been threatened, DeWine said. He called the move an “extraordinary step.”
“Our schools must remain open. They’re going to remain open,” DeWine said.
On Monday, the city government announced that its annual CultureFest celebration downtown, scheduled for two days starting Sept. 27, would be canceled because of security concerns.
More than 15,000 Haitians live and work in Springfield. Haitian migrants have been granted Temporary Protected Status by the U.S. government because of unrest in Haiti, including violent gangs ruling the streets.
DeWine, a Republican, defended the Haitian migrants working in Springfield.
He said Trump or Vance or any other politicians has a right to talk about immigration and issues at the U.S.-Mexico border, and that “it is a legitimate issue.”
“I have a job, though, in regard to people who are here legally in Springfield and a community that is, you know, people are making comments about them,” DeWine said. “I have an obligation to speak out.”
“Following what the mayor has said, what the city manager has said, and what the chief of police has said is: We have no evidence that anyone is eating someone’s pets in Springfield, Ohio,” he said later in the news conference.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
