Bomb threats in public schools or municipal buildings. On Friday, September 13, officials in the American city of Springfield (Ohio), which has nearly 60,000 inhabitants, announced that they had ordered the evacuation of several establishments and the city hall, in a context of false accusations by Donald Trump against Haitian migrants living in the town.
The city, just west of Columbus in the northeast, was the focal point of a national political firestorm when the former U.S. president and Republican presidential nominee said in a Sept. 10 televised debate with Kamala Harris that they steal and eat pets. The allegations were “outlandish,” according to city officials and police.
“As a precautionary measure, all affected buildings have been evacuated. Authorities, with the assistance of explosive detection dogs, have conducted thorough inspections and have evacuated the facilities mentioned in the threats,” the city said in a statement. On Friday, Donald Trump intensified his mendacious diatribes, promising “mass deportations” in Springfield, pretending to ignore that many of these migrants have residency permits. “This has to stop, what he’s doing, it has to stop,” Joe Biden said from the White House, adding that “there is no place in America” for such allegations.
Threats to a home
Federal police are also investigating threats made Thursday night against a Haitian shelter in the city, the center’s director, Viles Dorsainvil, told AFP, citing insults and calls to “get out” of the community. That same day, Donald Trump, at a rally in Arizona, continued to refer to this false and racist claim. “This was a beautiful community, it’s horrible what happened,” he told the crowd, also referring, without proof, to cases of migrants attacking “geese” or “raping young American girls.”
Some of his supporters were seen at the campaign rally holding signs showing Donald Trump protecting two kittens in his arms, images generated by artificial intelligence.
“The Haitian community is shocked and frustrated, and many are talking about possibly leaving Springfield,” Rose-Thamar Joseph, secretary of the local Haitian Community Outreach Center, told Reuters. “Springfield is a beautiful community, and your pets are safe in our city,” Mayor Rob Rue tried to reassure the city in a television broadcast on Friday.