Town gets 33 hoax bomb threats over migrant conspiracies
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The town of Springfield has seen some three dozen bomb threats as it endures being the center of Republican-boosted conspiracy theories about immigration, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Monday.
“We have received at least 33 separate bomb threats,” DeWine told a news conference in the city.
They were all hoaxes, he said, adding that some of them have come from a foreign country, which he did not name.
Racist rumors, amplified by top Republicans including presidential candidate Donald Trump, have falsely said that the town’s Haitian immigrant community is stealing and eating people’s pets and causing a crime wave.
Since Trump declared “they’re eating the dogs” at last week’s presidential debate, threats of bombings, shootings or other violence have poured in, including on Monday when two schools were shut down.
Some Haitians living in the city have told Agence France-Presse they feared for their lives. The mayor has said he is receiving death threats.
It was unclear if DeWine’s figure included the threats about shootings and other violence, or the bomb threat made Monday against the Ohio state legislature, in Columbus.
Two schools in Springfield were evacuated Monday, local media reported, though authorities had not yet released details about the threats that prompted the closures.
DeWine announced that 36 troopers from the state Highway Patrol would be stationed throughout the city to provide extra security.
The troopers will sweep the schools each morning and remain on site throughout the day, said DeWine, a Republican who has pushed back against the rumors amplified by his party.