Ohio Governor Sends State Troopers To Boost Security At Springfield Schools
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Monday that he is sending Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to be stationed at each of the Springfield school district’s 18 buildings “beginning tomorrow and continuing for the foreseeable future.”
The move is in response to multiple schools in Springfield recently having to be evacuated following a series of bomb threats. The threats began after former President Donald Trump; his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio; and their allies started spreading the blatantly racist lie that the city’s Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets and posing a danger to other residents ― a baseless smear that Springfield officials warn is contributing to increased hostility against the town. The Republican governor did not mention Trump nor Vance in his announcement.
“Many of these threats are coming in from overseas, made by those who want to fuel the current discord surrounding Springfield. We cannot let the bad guys win,” DeWine said in a statement. “We must take every threat seriously, but children deserve to be in school, and parents deserve to know that their kids are safe. The added security will help ease some of the fears caused by these hoaxes.”
About 36 troopers with the OHSP’s Mobile Field Force will provide “added security” to the schools by sweeping each building for threats before students and staff arrive and staying on campus throughout the school day and during dismissal, according to the governor. None of the threats so far have been legitimate, DeWine said, but the increased security is “purely as a precaution” so schools are prepared.
In the wake of the threats and the newfound attention on Springfield, Haitian residents reported that they feel unsafe, some of them opting to keep their children home from school.
The false tales have also led to the evacuation of Springfield’s City Hall due to bomb threats and the cancellation of all events and remote classes at Wittenberg University due to a threatened shooting targeting Haitian immigrant students.
Regardless of the rise of threats, Vance on Friday encouraged his social media followers to continue “discussing this slow-moving humanitarian crisis in a small Ohio town.”
Moreover, Trump claimed the same day that he would aim to create mass deportations sending Haitian immigrants to Venezuela. (Trump has spread baseless lies about Venezuelan immigrants as well.)
“We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large deportations. We’re going to get these people out. We’re bringing them back to Venezuela,” Trump said.
The following day, Trump denied knowing about the threats.
“I don’t know what happened with the bomb threats. I know that it’s been taken over by illegal migrants, and that’s a terrible thing that happened,” Trump said Saturday.
In a CNN interview on Sunday, Vance admitted to “creating a story” of Haitian immigrants eating pets.
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to, Dana,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. “Because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast.”
“Dana, it comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents. I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it,” the senator said before baselessly claiming that Harris allowed 20,000 undocumented migrants into Springfield. (Most of the Haitian immigrants in Springfield are there legally.) “But yes, we created the actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about this story and the suffering created by Kamala Harris’ policies.” Vice President Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, has not been in a position to create policies.
JD Vance attempts to justify spreading lies about Haitians eating pets in Springfield, Ohio:
“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people then that's what I'm going to do” pic.twitter.com/9P5lUaZUJu— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 15, 2024
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue called for peace when talking to Bash on CNN on Sunday, adding that politicians and those running for office should understand “the weight of their words and how they could harm a community like ours.”
