Ohio deployed state police to Springfield schools on Tuesday in response to a series of bomb threats — most of which officials said came from abroad — after former U.S. President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, falsely said legitimate Haitian immigrants in the small town were eating dogs and cats.
Schools, government buildings and the homes of elected officials in Springfield were among the targets of more than 30 hoax threats made last week that forced evacuations and closures. Two more schools had to be evacuated Monday, and a high school was threatened Tuesday. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said foreign actors were mostly responsible, but he declined to name the countries.
Although dozens of Ohio State Highway Patrol officers were deployed to protect 18 schools in the Springfield City School District, many parents chose to keep their children home. At one elementary school, about 200 students were absent Tuesday out of a total of 500.
“There is still a high level of fear because of these baseless threats and fake news that have plagued our existence for the past week,” said Robert Hill, chief executive of the Springfield City School District, during a press conference with DeWine.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed that illegal immigrants were eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, ABC News Presidential Debate moderator David Muir said the city manager told ABC News there were “no credible reports” of such incidents.
Two highway patrol officers have been assigned to each school, a protocol that will continue “as long as necessary,” DeWine said.
“We don't believe there's a real threat out there, but we're certainly not going to take any chances. And we want parents to be confident that their kids can be kids and can go to school and learn,” he said.
State police were seen at a high school on Tuesday morning, with students being dropped off as usual.
Trump reinforces already debunked rumors
Thousands of Haitian immigrants have settled in recent years in the mostly white, blue-collar city of about 60,000, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the state capital, Columbus, where they have found work in factories and warehouses that have struggled to fill jobs.
This sudden influx of refugees has strained schools, health care facilities and city services and raised housing costs — and become a major political issue in Trump's wake. Internet rumors that have been denied are getting stronger about eating pets during last week's presidential debate. Vance has repeated the false claim.
“We didn't receive threats seven days ago. We didn't receive these concerns seven days ago. We didn't receive the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in Springfield and from the state of Ohio to support us seven days ago. We received help today,” Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said Tuesday.
Rue did not mention Trump or Vance by name, but called on the country's leaders to “control their words and speak the truth.”
“That's what Springfield is asking for. We need peace. We need help, not hate.”
'Exhausting' and 'dangerous'
US Vice President Kamala Harris, taking questions at a forum for Black journalists in Philadelphia on Tuesday, said her heart breaks for Springfield. She said the inflammatory rhetoric about Haitian immigrants was “tired, dangerous, hateful and based on old tropes that we should not tolerate.”
Vance did not back down, writing on the social media platform X that “residents tell us there is a problem” in Springfield and that he has repeatedly condemned the threats. He accused Harris of ignoring legitimate concerns and trying to silence debate.
DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said Tuesday that the “vast majority” of bomb threats came from overseas. He said a criminal investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies led to information about the origin of the threats.
Tierney did not elaborate on how investigators determined they were from a foreign country, nor would he name the country, saying it could encourage additional threats.