Two Springfield, Ohio, elementary schools were evacuated Thursday after they were named in a bomb threat that included hateful language towards Haitian immigrants.

“My hometown of Springfield is becoming a third-world (expletive) because you allowed the federal government to dump these (expletive) here,” read the threat, which was emailed to multiple agencies and media outlets. “We have Haitians eating our animals and then you lie and claim this is not happening when we see this happening. I’m here to send a message, I placed a bomb in the following locations…”

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A spokesperson for Springfield City Schools said students at Fulton Elementary School were evacuated and taken to Springfield High School, WDTN reports. Springfield Academy of Excellence was also evacuated, and Clark State College announced its Brinkman building in downtown Springfield would be closed Thursday “out of an abundance of caution.”

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said the bomb threat also forced the evacuation of city hall, the state motor vehicle agency’s local facility, and other buildings, Yahoo News reports. No bomb was found after the threat.

Presidential Debate Thrusts Springfield Into Spotlight

Springfield has received national attention in recent days after former President Donald Trump repeated unfounded rumors during Tuesday’s presidential debate about Haitian migrants eating peoples’ pets.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in,” Trump said. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. This is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck released a statement saying there’s no evidence of any pets being harmed or eaten by its Haitian immigrants.

“Obviously, the negative response and threats are very sad and hard to handle,” Rue said. “We want to move forward together, and it just makes it more difficult to do that when we have violent actions and threats.”

Second Bomb Threat Made Against 3 Springfield Schools

On Friday, two more Springfield City schools were evacuated and one closed after another threat was emailed to local media outlets, according to WHIO. A district spokesperson said Perrin Woods and Snowhill Elementary students were evacuated to an alternate location Friday morning after receiving information from the Springfield Police Division.

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Roosevelt Middle School was also closed before the start of the school day. Some parents arriving with their students were turned away, according to reports. Clark Park High School, which is not part of the Springfield City School District, was also evacuated after it was named in the threat.

It is not yet clear if the threat is linked to Thursday’s threat or if it mentions Haitian migrants.

Springfield Officials: Haitian Migrant Population Straining Resources

Tensions have grown over the increasing Haitian population in Springfield as the volume and pace of the arrivals have put pressure on city housing, healthcare, and schools. Haitian immigrants have increased Springfield’s population by 25-30% over a three-year period, according to Rue.

“Rumors like this are taking away from the real issues such as issues involving our housing or school resources and our overwhelmed healthcare system,” he told the Springfield News-Sun.

The city was previously propelled into the national debate over immigration after 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed last year when a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant struck his school bus. On Tuesday, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, mentioned Clark in a post on X that said “a child was murdered by a Haitian immigrant.” Later that day, Clark’s father, Nathan Clark, said Vance and others were exploiting his son’s death for political gain.

“My son was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti,” Clark said during a Springfield City Commission meeting. “This tragedy is felt all over this community, the state, and even the nation, but don’t spin this towards hate.”

Ohio Governor to Send More Resources to Springfield

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued a press release Wednesday announcing the state would send healthcare and public safety support to Clark County, which houses Springfield. More specifically, DeWine said he would dedicate $2.5 million to expanding primary care access “for everyone living in Springfield.”

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“The federal government needs to assist these communities with funding because these dramatic migrant surges impact every citizen in the community — the moms who have to wait hours in a waiting room with a sick child, everyone who drives on our streets, and the children who go to school in more crowded classrooms,” he wrote. “The federal government does not have a plan to give any support to the communities impacted by surges, and we have absolutely no indication that a plan is coming in the near future.”

DeWine’s press release also outlined additional support the state is providing to address the increase in the Haitian population, including the creation of a school-based health clinic in the Springfield City School District to expand primary care access for school children and their parents.

DeWine said migrants are choosing Springfield because of its job opportunities, noting employers say they have “done a very, very good job, and they work very, very hard,” The Hill reports.

Four years ago, our editorial board endorsed Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino for election to an open seat in an 18th Ohio Senate District that then covered parts of Lake and Geauga counties and all of Portage County. We cited his proven small-business track record and focus on economic development.

The 18th has since been redistricted to include all of Lake County and about 20 communities in eastern and southern Cuyahoga County, including Brecksville, Solon, Mayfield Heights, Seven Hills, Independence and Cuyahoga Heights. And Cirino, 72, has not lived up to the expectations our editorial board cited in supporting his election.

‘We all just want to live and flourish and raise our families in a healthy and safe environment,’ Springfield native John Legend

Editor’s note: Springfield native John Legend, an international acclaimed performer, took to social media Sept. 12 to address backlash against Haitian immigrants promoted by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Middletown. His statement is below.

My name is John Legend, and I was born as John. R Stevens from a place called Springfield, Ohio. Springfield, Ohio — you may have heard of Springfield, Ohio, this week.

In fact, if you watch the debate, we were discussed by our presidential candidates, including a very special, interesting man named Donald J. Trump.

Now, Springfield has had a large influx of Haitian immigrants who come to our city.

Now, our city had been shrinking for decades. We didn’t have enough jobs. We didn’t have enough opportunity so people left and went somewhere else.

SPRINGFIELD DAD: My son wasn’t murdered. Stop using Aiden Clark’s death to vomit hate about immigrants.

So, when I was there, we had upwards of 75,000 people and in the last five years we were down to like 60,000 people. 

But of late, during the Biden administration, there have been more jobs that opened up. More manufacturing jobs, more plants, factories that needed employees and were ready to hire people.

So, we had a lot of job opportunities, and we didn’t have enough people in our town of 60,000 people to fill those jobs.

And during the same time, there has been upheaval and turmoil in Haiti. The federal government granted visas and immigration status to a certain number of Haitian immigrants so they could come to our country legally.

Our demand in Springfield for additional labor met up with the supply of additional Haitian immigrants and here we are.

We had about 15,000 or so immigrants move to my town of 60,000.You might say, wow, that’s a lot of people for a town that only had 60,000 before. That’s a 25% increase.

That is correct.

So you might imagine there are some challenges with integrating a new population.

Springfield officials: ‘ Springfield officials: ‘No credible reports’ of crime by Haitian migrants in Ohio

No ‘roasted Fluffy.’ Haitians aren’t eating cats in Springfield. Vance is a liar.

New language, new culture, new dietary preferences. All kinds of reasons why there might be growing pains.

Making sure there are enough services to accommodate the new, larger population that might need bilingual service providers, etc. etc.

So, there are plenty of reasons why this might be a challenge for my hometown.

But the bottom line is these people came to Springfield because there were jobs for them and they were willing to work. 

They wanted to live the American dream, just like your German ancestors, your Irish ancestors, your Italian ancestors, your Jewish ancestors. Your Jamaican ancestors, your  Polish ancestors –  all these ancestors who moved to this country.

Maybe not speaking the language that everyone else spoke.

Maybe not eating the same foods.

Maybe having to adjust.

Maybe having to integrate.

But all coming because they saw opportunity for themselves and their families in the American dream.

And they came here to do that.

Letters to the Editor: JD Vance’s cat fascination is a distraction

 Some facts about immigrants. They usually do very well here.

They are hard working.

They are ambitious.

They commit less crime than native born Americans, and they will assimilate and integrate in time, but it takes time.So I think all of us need to have the same kind of grace that we would want our ancestors to have when they moved here with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Nobody’s eating cats.

Nobody’s eating dogs.

We all just want to live and flourish and raise our families in a healthy and safe environment.

How about we love one another? I grew up in the Christian tradition we said to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and treat strangers as though they might be Christ.

So, how about we adopt that ethos when we talk about immigrants moving to our communities and don’t spread hateful, xenophobic, racist lies about them.

John R. Stevens from Springfield signing off.