SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The dozens of bomb threats and the enormous public attention that a small Ohio town has received since President Donald Trump and others spread the false claim that Haitian migrants were stealing and eating pets are leaving children living in fear, worried parents said Thursday.
“They’re afraid to go to school. They don’t know what’s going on,” John Michael Moore said of his children. “These kids are like sponges. They absorb everything. We just want it to stop.”
Dozens of bomb threats have been made in Springfield, including at schools, in the days since Trump repeated the baseless and damaging claims about Haitian migrants during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, and their allies have also spread the lie.
Officials have said the allegations are false and the city’s police department released a statement saying there have been “no credible reports” of Haitian immigrants harming pets.
That did not prevent schools from being evacuated and closed due to a flood of threats.
“I really feel sorry for the Haitian children because they’re here for an education,” Moore said. “They come from a country that’s in chaos, they just want a normal life.”
So far, all bomb threats have been labeled hoaxes, but children are afraid for themselves, their friends and the community, parents say.
“My baby is only 10 years old, and that’s not right. That’s not right, that my daughter should be scared,” said Springfield parent Martin McWhorter. “Why are you messing with my baby?”
McWhorter said his daughter’s school was targeted by bomb threats and lamented that what was once a small, peaceful town now doesn’t feel safe.
“So I try to make sure my daughter is very aware of her surroundings,” he said.
Clark County Commission Chair Melanie Flax Wilt said people in the community are “stressed by the national attention that has been created and some of the safety concerns that we have had.”
She said the situation has made it difficult to provide basic resources to the community, and that teachers and first responders are also now experiencing “an added level of tension and stress in responding in an environment that has left them somewhat in a sense of danger. Whether that’s real or not, it’s still creating stress and pressure on those who serve our community.”
Flax Wilt said she has also seen “our community come together in a very positive way over the last few days and take a more positive approach to some of the rumors and challenges that have been going around.”
Haitian immigrant Romane Pierre moved to Springfield from Florida in 2020. He now runs the Rose Goute Creole Restaurant in the city and says people have called and sarcastically asked, “Do you have a cat today? Do you have a dog today?”
“Everyone is scared,” Pierre told NBC News. His restaurant is just a stone’s throw from the elementary school that was evacuated last week, and he said he was grocery shopping at a Walmart when it was evacuated due to another false threat.
But he says the fear is matched by support: His restaurant has been flooded with new customers, many of whom have driven hours to support them.
“They say I’m from Columbus, I’m from Cincinnati, I’m from Indiana,” he said. He said he also got a call from Florida from a customer who said, “I’m going to order some food for somebody, just take my card, my credit card, my debit card, and just give it to somebody else.”
Still, because the false rumor spread so widely, Isaac Mackey said he had to have conversations with his children about the potential new dangers in their community. He said he told them to “keep their eyes open” for strange or suspicious people or activities.
“If you see something, say something,” he told them. “If there’s anything strange, if someone looks suspicious, you need to tell someone.”
Sharice Otieno said she was walking to school with her son last Friday when she heard from another family that there had been a bomb threat.
“I had to tell my son right away that he couldn’t go to school. He’s 6 years old. He didn’t really understand, what’s a bomb threat? So I just explained to him that there are people, adults who want to hurt children. He started crying.”
Otieno said she called a Haitian friend to ask her to pick up her child because of the threat.
“She ran out of her house in her nightgown to get her child,” she said.
“So it was a very scary feeling. But I was also angry, because I know it’s rooted in lies against the community that has shown me so much love,” she said.
Otieno said that as a parent, recent events have made her “worried about my baby. I worry about his peers, his teachers, but I also worry about my community.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
