Springfield, Ohio, schools open Tuesday with increased security amid threats linked to false claims about Haitian immigrants

By Lauren Mascarenhas and Michelle Watson, CNN

(CNN) — Students in Springfield, Ohio, attended classes Tuesday with increased security provided by the state, as threats linked to false claims about Haitian immigrants continue to disrupt daily life in the city.

State troopers, tower cameras and bomb detection dogs were deployed to enhance security at Springfield schools, which have received dozens of bomb threats since late last week, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has said.

The threats began rolling in after last week’s presidential debate, when former President Donald Trump touted unfounded allegations that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are stealing and eating pet cats and dogs. DeWine flatly denied the false rumors about the city’s Haitian immigrants and told CNN business leaders feel Haitian immigrants are “really essential to them getting the job done.”

DeWine told “PBS News Hour” on Tuesday night that comments like ones made by Trump and Republican running mate JD Vance are very hurtful to immigrants who are working hard. “And frankly, (the comments) need to stop,” the governor said.

Springfield, in southwestern Ohio, has a population of around 60,000 and is about 80 miles north of Cincinnati. The city has experienced 25% population growth in the past three years, in part because of the influx of Haitian immigrants, Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, has told CNN.

The threats of violence and school closures have forced adults to have difficult conversations with students that are “robbing them of the blissful ignorance of being a child,” Jeremy Hudson, senior pastor at Fellowship Church in Springfield, told CNN.

“They’re asking questions like, ‘Why did this happen?’” he said. “Because they understand that something’s going on, they just don’t understand why. And frankly, there isn’t a great answer to give a kid.”

When asked Tuesday whether the Trump campaign has reached out to express support, DeWine told reporters he has not spoken recently with Trump or Vance, a US senator from Ohio. The governor said Trump “will be welcomed” to visit Springfield, but emphasized “resources are really stretched” in the city right now.

Springfield’s mayor said it “would be fine with me if they decided not to make that stop right now” because of the strain on city resources.

State patrol to check school buildings

Starting Tuesday, 36 troopers from the state highway patrol’s mobile field force will sweep each of the district’s 17 school buildings before classes start and will remain on campus throughout the day to provide security, DeWine said.

The governor has also directed Ohio Homeland Security to conduct “vulnerability assessments” on the city’s infrastructure and to provide tower cameras for police use.

Bomb detection dogs will be stationed in the city every day, DeWine noted.

At a news conference Tuesday, the governor said Springfield received one threat in the previous 24 hours that was deemed to be unfounded. “We do not think there is a real threat out there, but we are certainly not going to take any chances and we want parents to be assured that their children can be kids,” he said.

There was also a bomb threat for the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on Monday, which the governor said was connected to events in Springfield.

The superintendent of the Springfield public school district encouraged parents to return their children to school, saying at the news conference Tuesday it was the “first close-to-normal day we’ve had” since last week’s debate.

“Our attendance was down today,” Springfield City School District Superintendent Robert Hill said. “There is still a high level of fear due to these unfounded threats and hoaxes that have marred our existence, really, for going on a week now.”

One student at Tecumseh High School was arrested by the Clark County Sheriff’s Department after making an online terroristic threat, according to Hill. Tecumseh is in New Carlisle, a town just west of Springfield, but in the same county.

Hill cautioned “this may not be over,” acknowledging there may be more threats, but with support from the governor and the state highway patrol, Springfield schools “are open and ready to serve our highly impoverished population.”

Two colleges and two elementary schools shut down in-person learning Monday after receiving separate threats – none of which were valid, the governor said.

Students at Simon Kenton and Kenwood Elementary schools were evacuated Monday based on information district officials received from the city’s police, the Springfield City School District said in a release. That marks six buildings within the district to be targeted by threats within the past week, the district said.

Wittenberg University announced Monday it would move to virtual learning for the rest of the week because of the bomb threats and a campus shooting threat that targeted “members of the Haitian community,” the university said.

The university has received five separate threats since Saturday, and most have been resolved, school President Michael Frandsen told CNN on Monday. Law enforcement agencies have increased patrols on campus, he said.

Clark State College also announced its campuses will be closed this week and classes will be held virtually after the school received similar threats through email.

In addition to the city’s schools, two area hospitals were forced to shut down last week because of threats.

Amid the safety concerns, Springfield also decided to cancel its annual “CultureFest,” a festival celebrating diversity, art and culture in the city that had been scheduled for September 27 and 28.

Springfield’s mayor thanked the governor Tuesday for believing local leadership about false claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets and urged national leaders to “temper their words and speak truth.”

“We did not have threats seven days ago, we did not have these concerns seven days ago, we did not have these hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in Springfield and from the state of Ohio seven days ago,” Rue said at news conference.

Baseless claims about the Haitian community

Approximately 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants live in Clark County, where Springfield is the county seat, the city notes on its website. In the 2020 presidential election, around 61% of Clark County voters cast their ballots in favor of Donald Trump and Mike Pence and 37% voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The city says some Haitian immigrants are there legally as part of a parole program that allows citizens and lawful residents to apply to have their family members from Haiti come to the United States.

“These Haitians that are there are legal, they work very, very hard,” DeWine said Monday.

There was no evidence to support other claims – such as Haitians stealing geese out of local parks – officials with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Rue acknowledged his city has experienced infrastructure strain because of an influx of immigrants. But he emphasized: “We have strain and stress and we’re trying to figure it out, but none of this attention that has been brought upon Springfield, Ohio, is helping us.”

“We were not receiving threats before at this level when we were highlighted on the national stage. Now we have threats – now we’re having to respond. This is costing the city,” said the mayor, who cited “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in expenses, not including overtime and other city contracts needed to secure the city.

Rumors hurting city, church leaders say

Philomene Philostin, a Haitian American business owner in Springfield, says the baseless rumors are hurting people in her community – particularly, the children.

Philostin told CNN she is a youth leader at her church, where children “who are too young to fully understand” the issues at hand have been asking her about the rumors.

Her own child has faced uncomfortable questions about Haitian culture, she said, which have led to feelings of embarrassment and distress.

Philostin said she asks herself every day where the baseless claims about the Haitian community that Trump and Vance have been spreading are coming from. Her experience is that immigrants come to Springfield to work, run businesses, pay taxes and take care of their families, she said.

She would like Trump to apologize for his false accusations, she said. The people of Springfield have children, she noted, and any parent should be able to understand the feeling of having a child come home from school asking about a bomb threat.

“People here, they’re really scared. They’re really worried. They don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

Hudson, the Fellowship Church pastor, said the community’s problems didn’t start with being mentioned at the presidential debate.

The influx of Haitian immigrants has bolstered the local economy and enriched the community, Hudson said, but it’s also put pressure on the city to scale up its resources in a short period of time.

In the past year, he’s seen local conversations around immigration become heated and witnessed some “emotionally charged” city commission meetings.

Then the presidential debate thrust the city into the national spotlight.

“This has really reached a tenor that is unprecedented,” Hudson said. “What we have seen over the last seven days has not been our experience over the last year. Quite frankly, we didn’t need it. We were having a hard enough time trying to bring a community together without the difficulty that that brought.”

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CNN’s Steve Almasy, Paradise Afshar, Chris Boyette, Taylor Romine and Emma Tucker contributed to this report.