Springfield, Ohio Receives Bomb Threat

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Facts

  • The city of Springfield, Ohio, released a statement on Thursday revealing a bomb threat was issued to several of its facilities, prompting the evacuation of its City Hall while law enforcement investigates.[1]
  • The city of about 58K people in the southwestern portion of the state has been in the news recently because of claims debunked by city officials that Haitian immigrants are eating residents' pets.[1]
  • Former Pres. Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, repeated the claims during his debate Tuesday with Democratic VP Kamala Harris. Springfield city officials and police have said there have been no credible reports of pets being stolen and/or eaten.[2]
  • Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said the threat came from someone claiming to be a Springfield resident who was frustrated with Haitian immigration to the city. In addition to the evacuation of City Hall, all Clark County buildings were closed to the public, and Fulton Elementary School was evacuated.[3]
  • There are an estimated 12-15K immigrants living in Clark County — many from Haiti and many who've moved to Springfield. The migrants are in the country legally via Temporary Protected Status.[4]
  • As the county is dealing with a strain on some of its public services, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine this week pledged to send Springfield more resources, including $2.5M for expanding healthcare services.[5]

Sources: [1]New York Times, [2]USA Today, [3]Springfield, [4]ABC News and [5]Newsweek.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by Huffington Post. As long as Republicans, including Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance, continue to spread these lies, there's always the risk of violence ensuing. There's a long history of leaders using a hatred of immigrants to rile up their base for political means. This time, it was just a bomb threat; hopefully, next time, it won't be something that results in tragedy.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by The Western Journal. Nothing excuses this type of threat, but public officials have to expect that desperate people will take desperate measures. And the residents of Springfield are filled with desperation over the troubles immigrants have brought to their city. The city needs more resources to address the increase in crime and decrease in services, and it must be allowed to turn away future immigrants.