Extra law enforcement to patrol Springfield, Ohio, schools after threats over false claims about Haitian immigrants

CNN
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has deployed the Ohio State Highway Patrol to monitor schools in the city of Springfield after receiving 33 bomb threats since late last week, he said at a news conference Monday.

Two middle schools had to move to virtual learning and two elementary schools were evacuated Monday after receiving separate threats. So far, those threats have “no validity,” DeWine said at a news conference Monday afternoon.

The threats and closures come amid continuing fallout from baseless allegations made by former President Donald Trump during the second presidential debate that Haitian immigrants in the city steal and eat local pets.

Students at Simon Kenton and Kenwood elementary schools were evacuated “to another district location” Monday based on information district officials received from city police, the Springfield City School District said in a statement.

“These are the fifth and sixth SCSD buildings to be targeted by recent threats in the past week,” the district said.

DeWine said 36 state patrol mobile force officers will be at all 17 school buildings in the Springfield City School District starting Tuesday. The officers will search all school buildings before classes begin and will remain on campus to ensure security throughout the day and after students dismiss, he said.

“Unfortunately, we have people overseas who are taking these actions,” DeWine said of those making the threats. “Some of them are from a particular country. We think this is another opportunity to attack the United States, and they continue to do so. So we can’t let the bad guys win.”

DeWine declined to name the specific country where some of the threats originated, but said the FBI was assisting local law enforcement. When asked why DeWine wouldn’t name the country, a spokesperson for his office said the governor “doesn’t want to encourage the bad actors who have made these many threats.”

Elsewhere in the city, classes at Wittenberg University were held remotely Monday as campus police and local law enforcement assessed emailed threats of a bombing and shooting on campus that targeted “members of the Haitian community,” the university said in a statement. The university has received five separate threats since Saturday, and most have been resolved, the school’s president, Michael Frandsen, told CNN Monday. Law enforcement has increased patrols on campus, he said.

Nearby Clark State College also announced that its campuses would close this week and classes would be held online after receiving similar email threats. Officials at both schools said they were taking the measures “out of an abundance of caution.”

“We understand the anxiety that incidents like this can cause and we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness and care,” Clark State said in a statement. “We will always prioritize the safety and well-being of our students, employees and community. We appreciate your understanding during this difficult time.”

Springfield also announced Monday that it would cancel its annual arts and culture festival, scheduled for Sept. 27-28, due to recent threats and security concerns.

Rob Rue, the city’s mayor, told CNN’s Dana Bash that he and other officials had personally received threats, adding that it “would be helpful” if politicians “understood the weight of their words and how they can harm a community like ours.”

Springfield police told CNN they received two 911 calls Saturday reporting members of the Proud Boys — the paramilitary group that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — were marching through the city.

“We got a couple of calls about them being in town, but when officers went to the area, Lexington and South Burnett, they were gone,” Sergeant Geovanny Mercado told CNN.

Two area hospitals closed Thursday after receiving threats, and the next day, two local elementary schools were evacuated “based on information received from the Springfield Division of Police.”

In an interview with CNN on Monday, DeWine flatly denied false rumors about Haitian immigrants in the city and said business leaders believe Haitian immigrants are “really essential to them being able to do their jobs.”

“These Haitians who are here are legal, they work very, very hard,” the governor said.

Between 12,000 and 15,000 immigrants live in Clark County, of which Springfield is the county seat, the city says on its website. It notes that the Haitian immigrants are here legally under a parole program that allows citizens and legal residents to petition to have their family members from Haiti come to the United States.

Clark County Sheriff’s Office officials also denied allegations that Haitians were stealing geese from local parks last week, noting that police reviewed 11 months of 911 records and identified two cases of people reporting such incidents but found no evidence to support the allegations.

Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance was among the first to raise the baseless rumors about the Haitians. CNN’s Dana Bash asked the Ohio Republican to provide evidence to support the allegations during an interview Sunday on “State of the Union,” and the senator cited several “first-hand” accounts he said he received from his constituents but provided no additional evidence.

He also expressed outrage at the suggestion that the repetition of these baseless allegations had led to a surge in threats in the city. “Nothing I have said has led to threats against these hospitals. The violence is disgusting and we condemn it,” Vance said.

“All I’ve done is raise the complaints of my constituents, people who are suffering because of Kamala Harris’ policies. Are we not allowed to talk about these issues because some psychopaths are threatening violence?” he added.

Vance later said: “If I have to create stories to make the American media actually pay attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

When Bash pressed him to clarify whether he admitted the story was fabricated, Vance reiterated that the claims came from his constituents.

“I didn’t create 20,000 illegal immigrants in Springfield because of Kamala Harris’ policies. Her policies did that,” he said. “But yes, we created the attention that allowed the American media to talk about this story and the suffering that was caused by Kamala Harris’ policies.”

Rue, the mayor, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday that his city has seen a 25 percent population growth over the past three years, partly because of the influx of Haitian immigrants.

Rue said he is working with local law enforcement to combat the rise in reckless driving and asked the governor for additional funding over the next two years to improve language services in the local health care system, but he decried allegations that immigrants were harming pets and local animals.

“I just want to make it clear, as an animal lover, that your animals are safe in Springfield, Ohio, and it’s strange that I even have to tell the national media, yes, it’s a fact, if it’s a fact, but it’s a fact,” Rue said.

CNN’s Paradise Afshar, Chris Boyette, Kit Maher and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.