Wittenberg University canceled all sporting events and other activities at its Springfield campus on Sunday after two threats of violence that school officials said were related to false claims about Haitian immigrants in the city.
They were the latest in a series of threats against government offices, schools, hospitals and other facilities in Springfield since former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, began spreading false information about immigrants in the city 45 miles west of Columbus stealing and eating pets.
“University officials recognize that the city of Springfield has experienced an increase in threats to local government, businesses and schools over the past week,” Wittenberg officials wrote on the school’s website Sunday. “We take this threat seriously and will update the campus as we learn more about the situation.”
The university received an email Saturday threatening a shooting planned on campus, prompting the cancellation of events. Another email at 1 p.m. Sunday threatened a bomb in a red Honda Civic. Police removed a car matching the description from Bill Edwards Drive, which runs through the Wittenberg campus, but said nothing suspicious was found.
Wittenberg police are working with Springfield police and the FBI to investigate the threats, and said they were stepping up patrols on campus Sunday.
The university urged students, faculty and staff to take “extreme precautions,” be alert to their surroundings and report suspicious activity to Wittenberg police at 937-327-6363 or 937-327-6231. Officials said they may order a lockdown “if we learn more from the ongoing investigation.”
Classes on Monday and next week will remain unchanged for the time being.
Trump falsely claimed Tuesday in a nationally televised debate with his Democratic presidential rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield eat cats and dogs. Trump also claimed that about 20,000 Haitians are in the city illegally, though the majority came to the United States through the federal government’s Temporary Protected Status program after fleeing gangs and economic uncertainty in their home countries.
On Sunday, Vance admitted during an interview on CNN that he spreads rumors. “If I have to create stories so that the American media will actually pay attention to the suffering of the American people, that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.
Gov. Mike DeWine, who last week pledged at least $2.5 million in state funding to help Springfield officials with health care access and traffic safety, called the threats to public safety from the approximately 15,000 Haitians who authorities say are in the city “a very sad thing.”
Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck said the city has found no credible reports of pets being abused, injured or mistreated by members of the Haitian immigrant community. He called the spread of misinformation “disappointing.”
The parents of an 11-year-old boy who died last year in a car crash caused by a Haitian immigrant said last week that a “relentless group of hateful people” was using their son’s death for political gain. Haitian immigrants, many of whom were invited to Springfield by employers who couldn’t fill jobs, have said they face increasing threats and intimidation.
rvitale@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Events canceled on Wittenberg U Springfield campus due to Haitian threats
