Springfield, Ohio.- Ohio State Police will help protect schools in the city of Springfield, which is at the center of a political uproar over Haitian migrants, the governor announced Monday, as local officials canceled an annual celebration of cultural diversity in the fallout over former President Donald Trump’s false claims that migrants are eating pets.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has denounced the debunked rumors that spread online before Trump amplified them at last week’s presidential debate, saying there is no evidence for them. At a news conference in Springfield on Monday, he said dozens of Ohio Highway Patrol troopers will be stationed at schools in the city starting Tuesday following a series of threats across the city, checking each building every morning before teachers and students arrive. Security cameras have also been placed at strategic points around Springfield, and a bomb-sniffing dog will be in the city, available 24 hours a day.
“We know people are very, very concerned,” DeWine said. “But we have moved resources to Springfield. People have a right to feel safe and to be safe.”
Springfield City Hall, several schools and the state motor vehicle offices in the city were forced to evacuate people last week after receiving bomb threats. There have been at least 33 bomb threats in recent days, all of them false, DeWine said. He said some of the threats came from overseas, but he declined to name the country.
“The people who are doing this are doing it to sow discord in our community,” said Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. “We can’t let them do this. We can’t stand for this. We have to continue to provide the services that the citizens of Springfield and Clark County expect.”
Springfield has been the focus of intense attention in recent days after Trump, his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and the Republican presidential campaign repeated false claims that Haitian migrants were eating domestic pets and waterfowl.
Speaking at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference in Philadelphia on Monday, President Joe Biden addressed the situation in Springfield, condemning what he called “lies and hate.”
“It is wrong. It is just wrong. And it must stop,” he said.
Springfield has canceled its annual celebration of diversity, arts and culture in response to the threats. The city’s two-day CultureFest had been scheduled to begin Sept. 27 but was canceled “in light of recent threats and safety concerns,” Springfield officials announced Monday.
“We deeply regret having to cancel CultureFest, as we know it is a beloved event for our community,” City Manager Bryan Heck said in a statement. “However, the safety of our residents and visitors must come first.”
Two Springfield colleges held classes remotely Monday. Wittenberg University said it received two threats over the weekend, “both directed at members of the Haitian community.” Clark State University said it would operate virtually through Friday “due to recent events in Springfield.”
The town was quiet Monday. Among the diners at a Creole restaurant were friends Bill Teager and Paul Gomia, who had driven more than an hour to support a Haitian-owned business.
“We’ve both been outraged over the last week by what’s happened to this city on a national and even local level,” Teager said.
Thousands of Haitian migrants have settled in recent years in this predominantly white, working-class city of about 60,000, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) from Columbus, the state capital, where they have found work in factories and warehouses that were struggling to fill vacancies. The sudden influx has strained schools, health centers and municipal services, and driven up housing prices.
DeWine acknowledged that Springfield faces challenges, but said it is a “city that, frankly, is moving forward. If you look at where Springfield was 15 years ago, 10 years ago, even five years ago, we are moving forward.”
He declined to criticize Trump, saying the Biden administration’s record on immigration is a legitimate topic of debate. But he noted that the Haitians in Springfield are there legally under a federal program that allows them to stay in the country temporarily because conditions in Haiti are deemed unsafe for them to return.
“Companies hire them because they needed the help and they needed the support,” DeWine said. “These are people who care about their families. These are people who value education. They’re hard workers. And I think we should respect that.”
“These… people who are spreading hate have to get over it. They have to go. They have to stop doing that,” he added.
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