The mayor of the Ohio city at the center of a storm of protests over immigration says his city needs help, not the hatred stoked by politicians and extremists.
“We’re struggling,” Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday.
Tensions over Springfield’s growing Haitian population ran high this week after former President Donald Trump used the presidential debate to spread debunked rumors that Haitians were stealing and eating pets.
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On Thursday, bomb threats led to the evacuation of Springfield City Hall, two schools and the local state automobile authority building.
Rue said the threats, which came via email, were a “hateful response to immigration in our city.”
“Of course the negative reactions and threats are very sad and difficult to deal with,” he said. “We want to move forward together, and it only makes it harder to do that when we have violent actions and threats.”
Even before the debate, the city had already attracted attention, fueled by Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, and others trying to portray the influx of Haitians as a failure of the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
“It’s frustrating when national politicians at the national level misrepresent what’s really happening and misrepresent our community,” Rue said.
While the arrival of thousands of Haitian immigrants has strained conditions in schools and some government services, most Haitians are in the United States legally and many have jobs in local industries.
But it was the death of 11-year-old Aiden Clark, killed last year when his school bus was struck by a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant, that fueled anger and fear and ultimately embroiled Springfield in a heated national debate over immigration.
On Tuesday, Vance referenced Aiden in a post on social media platform X, saying “a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant.”
Later that day, Aiden’s father, Nathan Clark, lashed out at Vance and others who he said were exploiting his son’s death for political gain.
“My son was not murdered. He was accidentally murdered by an immigrant from Haiti,” Clark, a teacher, said at a Springfield City Commission meeting.
“This tragedy is felt across the community, the state and even the country, but don’t turn this into hate,” he continued.
Yet it wasn’t long before Trump took to the city during the presidential debate that night, spreading debunked claims about Haitians. “In Springfield, they eat the dogs. The people that came in, they eat the cats. They eat — they eat the pets of the people that live there.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz and other Republicans posted mocking videos of kittens that went viral. Elon Musk also joined in on the social media frenzy.
The Haitians have filled jobs in manufacturing, distribution and other sectors and have been welcomed by many employers. But the volume and pace of arrivals have strained housing, health care and schools in the city, which lies between Columbus and Dayton and had a population of nearly 60,000 in 2020, according to census figures that year.
It is estimated that between 12,000 and 20,000 Haitians arrived.
“We cannot deny that a 25 to 30 percent increase in our population over a three-year period would overwhelm services,” Rue said.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced this week that the state would give Springfield $2.5 million to help ease the strain on frontline health care and that he would deploy members of the state highway patrol to improve road safety. The mayor said he was still holding out hope for federal help.
Some local residents have voiced their complaints about the newcomers at City Commission meetings, with several saying that the Haitians are “invading” their city and receiving benefits at the expense of Americans. Some have also said that Haitians have low IQs and made other racist statements.
The video of Clark’s speech circulated widely in conservative media. Some outlets, such as the far-right digital outlet The Post Millennial, seized on Clark’s comment that he wished his son had been murdered by a 60-year-old white man because it would have spared the family from “hateful people.”
Another site, Blaze Media, founded by former Fox News host Glenn Beck, took the same approach. It was shared on Telegram late Tuesday night by the National Justice Party, characterized by the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist group, along with a menacing note: “These parents should be executed.”
The post and the threat were then re-shared by other Telegram users. The posts were reported by The Racket, an online newsletter.
Springfield Mayor Rue said he had received a flood of threatening phone calls.
Last month, Nazi sympathizers — masked men in matching red shirts, black pants and boots — waved swastika flags as they marched in downtown Springfield, near a jazz festival. At least two of the men, who authorities said were outsiders, carried guns.
One of the targets of Thursday’s bomb threat was an elementary school with a large number of Haitian students. Fear has enveloped the Haitian community in Springfield this week, said Vilés Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Health and Support Center.
Dorsainvil said he had received many calls from families concerned about the safety of their children.
“People panicked,” he said. “I tried to make them understand that it’s just politics.”
The Vance campaign weighed in on the tensions Thursday night. “Senator Vance condemns these threats and believes those responsible should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said Luke Schroeder, a spokesman for the vice presidential candidate.
Haiti is facing violence, political unrest and a humanitarian crisis, which has caused tens of thousands of Haitians to flee to other countries, including Brazil, Chile and the United States.
“At the end of the day, we’re here,” Dorsanivil said. “We’ve been through a lot and we’re resilient people.”
In a Haitian WhatsApp chat group, Haitian leaders urged community members to “stay calm, stay informed, stay safe and stay connected.”
“Don’t let tension and fear prevent you from making bad decisions,” the message read in Haitian Creole.
“Do not listen to rumors or unconfirmed information,” the newspaper advised them, according to a screenshot provided to the Times and translated into English.
“I feel uncomfortable in this situation. I ask myself what to do,” said Jean Frantz, 35, a father of two.
“They are spreading lies that I can’t believe,” he said. “We work, pay taxes, buy cars and respect the law.”
Rue said his message to the Haitian community was one of compassion. “I feel bad that this is happening in our community and that they have to endure this kind of hate,” he said.
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