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The Springfield City School District in Ohio closed one middle school and evacuated two elementary schools on Friday due to bomb threats as former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies continue to make inflammatory and unfounded claims about the city’s Haitian immigrant community.
The incident marked the second consecutive day of disruptions for Springfield, following similar threats that had prompted the evacuation of city hall on Thursday. It was revealed Friday that Thursday’s bomb threat in Springfield used hateful language against the city’s immigrant population.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue told TIME that two more bomb threats were received via email on Friday morning, targeting several city commissioners, a municipal employee, three schools, the town’s city hall, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and the Ohio License Bureau Southside. Local officials are working with the FBI to trace the origins of the threats, the mayor said.
Students at Perrin Woods and Snowhill Elementary Schools were moved to alternative locations while Roosevelt Middle School remained closed for the day. Explosive detection canines were deployed to inspect the facilities, and authorities later confirmed that the buildings were cleared of any explosive devices.
A note on the front door of Fulton Elementary School advises parents wanting to pick up their children to go to another school nearby for pick up after the school was evacuated.Roberto Schmidt–AFP via Getty ImagesThe threat comes amid a tumultuous period for Springfield, which has been at the center of a national debate over immigration as false rumors circulate online claiming that the city’s Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets, which Trump repeated during Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Local officials say there is no evidence that Haitian immigrants are doing that.
Trump reiterated unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants during a campaign stop in Arizona on Thursday. “There’s a place called Springfield, Ohio, that you’ve been reading about. Twenty-thousand illegal Haitian immigrants have descended upon the town of 58,000 people, destroying their entire way of life. This was a beautiful community and now it’s horrible what’s happened,” he said.
The controversy has been further fueled by misleading assertions from Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who claimed on Friday morning there had been a “massive rise in communicable diseases” in Springfield. However, local health officials have countered these claims, noting that the overall rate of reportable communicable diseases, excluding COVID-19, is at its lowest level in Clark County since 2016.
The unfounded allegations have stoked local fears and attracted unwarranted national scrutiny to Springfield’s immigrant community. The town, with an immigrant population of approximately 12,000 to 15,000 individuals, includes many Haitians who are legally residing in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status due to ongoing conflict.
—With reporting by Solcyré Burga
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