Ohio’s attorney general on Tuesday warned that Springfield, the city at the center of a political controversy that has erupted on social media, is in need of resources after an influx of Haitian immigrants.
“And I understand that there’s also some frustration in the city because they’re good-hearted people, they’ve tried to be kind, they’ve tried to be supportive of folks that are clearly fleeing a terrible situation in Haiti, but they feel like they’re being left to handle it on their own and I don’t blame them,” he said.
He later said that in regards to immigrants arriving in Springfield and Ohio in general, “there has to be a limiting principle here,” adding that he’s “looking for a way to get this in front” of a court to render a decision.
“If it could happen to Springfield, it could happen to any town in America,” the attorney general said. “There has to be some kind of limit to the federal government’s authority to simply continue letting people in and allowing them to run free in the country and congregate in a place like Springfield that’s not prepared to handle it.”
In recent weeks, online claims have emerged about Springfield’s Haitian immigrant population. Some locals have alleged that the immigrants have eaten pets, geese, or ducks., which was echoed by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as well as by Yost.
But Springfield’s mayor and other officials in the city have said that they have received no reports of pet eating and that the claims are not true. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, also said the claims aren’t valid.
“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance told the channel.
Wittenberg University, a college in Springfield, said that it canceled all athletic events through Sept. 22 due to what it described as security concerns.
While the college did not elaborate on the security concerns, Ohio officials have said that alleged bomb threats have been made to various locations across Springfield.
Amid the bomb threat reports, DeWine described them as “hoaxes” in a Monday news conference, adding that the calls came from “overseas.”
“Thirty-three threats; Thirty-three hoaxes,” he said. “I want to make that very, very clear. None of these had any validity at all.
“Some of them are coming from one particular country.” He did reveal which country.
DeWine said that Ohio highway troopers will be stationed at city schools amid the bomb threat hoaxes. Officers will be sweeping buildings before students and staff arrive on campus, he said.
