Springfield Mayor Rob Rue condemned federal politicians who have “negatively spun our city.”
As former President Donald Trump continues to push unsubstantiated claims about Haitian migrants and after a bomb threat rattled Springfield, Ohio, local leaders say that politicians who have “negatively spun” their community “need to know they’re hurting our city.”
The city in southwestern Ohio, which has just under 59,000 residents, has been thrown onto the national debate stage after false claims spread that Haitian migrants who have settled in Springfield are eating pets and other livestock. Police say they have “no credible reports” of the claims that have been pushed online in part due to comments by Trump, his running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance and other supporters of the former president’s reelection campaign.
During his first debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, which attracted over 67 million viewers, Trump amplified the baseless claims while attacking the Biden administration’s immigration policies, saying from the stage, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs—the people that came in. They’re eating the cats.”
The comments have sparked mockery online for Trump, and some of his supporters have attempted to make light of Trump’s words. But on Thursday, after multiple city agencies were targeted in a bomb threat, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, condemned the rhetoric, telling WSYX in an interview, “All these federal politicians that have negatively spun our city, they need to know they’re hurting our city, and it was their words that did it.”
Officials said the bomb threat was directed at entities like City Hall, the Clark County courthouse and two elementary schools. Rue told The during an interview that the threat included “hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community.
