Trump and Vance are still stoking fears of Haitian migrants, as Ohio community faces bomb threats

Donald Trump and his running mate on Friday continued to disparage Haitian migrants in an Ohio community, further fueling false claims the Republicans have promoted even as the city saw bomb threats and school evacuations and local officials called for a cooling of the anti-immigrant rhetoric.

''We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio,'' Trump said Friday during a news conference in California, adding that he could possibly hold a campaign event or town hall in the city and claiming the migrants are ''destroying the way of life.''

Ohio authorities have said there are no credible or detailed reports to support the debunked allegations circulated this week by both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, that Haitian immigrants are eating domestic pets and birds in the city's public parks. Trump mentioned the claims during a debate Tuesday with his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, prompting her to laugh and call the GOP presidential nominee ''extreme.''

After city agencies were targeted in a bomb threat, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue on Thursday called on politicians to tamp down the rhetoric.

''All these federal politicians that have negatively spun our city, they need to know they're hurting our city, and it was their words that did it,'' Rue said in an interview with WSYX.

A city spokesperson said an emailed threat claimed that bombs had been planted in the homes of Springfield's mayor and other city officials. A second email claimed that bombs had been placed at locations including Springfield City Hall, a high school, a middle school, two elementary schools and the local office of the state motor vehicles bureau.

The buildings were evacuated, and authorities with explosive-detection dogs swept and cleared them, officials said.

''It's simply wrong. There's no place in America,'' Biden said while speaking at a White House luncheon. ''This has to stop, what he's doing. It has to stop.''

Trump suggested Friday that local officials aren't being truthful about the problem because of its severity. While he stated the ''real threat'' of immigration is happening at the Southern border, he said, "The people of Ohio are scared.''

In a post on X on Friday Vance stated, without evidence, that Springfield has experienced ''a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime.''

''Don't let biased media shame you into not discussing this slow-moving humanitarian crisis in a small Ohio town,'' he said.

Vance repeated those claims in another X post later Friday, though he added: ''Nothing justifies violence or the threat of violence levied against Springfield or its residents. We condemn both.''

The situation surrounding Springfield, a city of roughly 60,000 located west of Columbus, started with an online post that was fueled by right-wing actors on social media. Vance amplified the posts from his own X account.

''Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country," Vance posted Monday on X.

''Where is our border czar?'' Vance asked, referring to a label that some used to reference Harris, whom Biden tapped to deal with some issues related to immigration in 2021.

In a later post, Vance said his office ''has received many inquiries from actual residents of Springfield who've said their neighbors' pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants,'' adding, ''It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.''

Springfield has seen its Haitian population grow in recent years. It's impossible to give an exact number, according to the city, but it estimates that Springfield's entire county has an overall immigrant population of 15,000.

Following Vance's initial post, the internet subsequently exploded with AI-generated imagery of Trump appearing to rescue dogs, cats and birds from harm, with Trump posting several of the memes to his own Truth Social account.

Trump repeated the claim during Tuesday's debate.

''In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats,'' Trump said Tuesday. ''They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country. And it's a shame.''

Debate moderators pointed out that city officials have said the claims are not true.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine — whose family operates a charity in Haiti in honor of their late daughter, Becky, who died in a car accident — said this week he would add more law enforcement and health care resources to an aid package the state has already provided to Springfield. DeWine said the Haitians who have moved to Ohio are generally hard-working people who love their families and who are seeking to escape the violence in their home country for good jobs in the state.

There have been other responses, including from the father of an 11-year-old Ohio boy killed last year when a Haitian immigrant driver hit a school bus. At a Springfield City Council hearing on Tuesday, Nathan Clark implored Trump and other politicians to stop invoking his son's name in the immigration debate.

Democrats have addressed the situation, with the Democratic National Committee pushing out a fundraising email on Wednesday with the subject line, ''Chaos, cats, and conspiracy.''

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