Two elementary schools were evacuated and a middle school was closed Friday following a new email threat in Springfield, Ohio, according to the school district and mayor.
Elementary schools released students and placed them in the care of their parents, officials said.
It’s unclear whether the person who sent Friday’s threat is the same person who sent Thursday’s, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue told ABC News.
On Thursday morning, bomb threats were emailed “to multiple agencies and media outlets” in the city, according to the city commission’s office.
Explosives-detection dogs helped police evacuate several facilities mentioned in the threat, including two elementary schools, City Hall and some driver’s license offices, Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott told reporters. The county courthouse was also evacuated “out of an abundance of caution,” she added.
The FBI is working with local police to help identify the source of the threat, Elliott said.
The mayor said there was a lot of fear in Springfield as a result of the threats.
“This is a very concerning time for our citizens and, frankly, a lot of people are fed up with the things that have been spread about our community that are just negative and untrue. We need help, not hate,” Rue told ABC News on Friday.
The mayor said he believes the threats are directly related to baseless rumors that have spread online following viral social media posts claiming that Haitian migrants are kidnapping Springfield residents’ pets to eat them. Those rumors have been amplified by right-wing politicians, including former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance.
“In Springfield, they eat the dogs,” Trump said during Tuesday night’s presidential debate. “The people that came, they eat the cats, they eat, they eat the pets of the people that live there.”
A spokesperson for the city of Springfield told ABC News that the claims were false and that there had been “no credible reports or specific allegations that pets have been harmed, abused or mistreated by individuals in the immigrant community.”
“Furthermore, there have been no reports of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as illegal occupation of land or dumping of rubbish in front of residents’ homes,” the spokesperson said. “Furthermore, there have been no reports of members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”
The mayor added: “Your pets are safe in Springfield.”
Springfield estimates there are between 12,000 and 15,000 immigrants living in the county. The migrants have been drawn to the area because of the low cost of living and job opportunities, according to the city. The rapid population growth has strained resources for housing, health care and education, according to the city. City officials also said the migrants are in the country legally and many have temporary protected status.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance condemned the “baseless and inflammatory” allegations about Haitian migrants, saying they “not only perpetuate harmful stereotypes but also contribute to the dangerous stigmatization of immigrant communities, particularly Black immigrants to the Republic of Haiti.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who dispelled the rumors this week, said the state would send more resources to Springfield.
The mayor stressed: “Anyone on the national stage who takes a microphone needs to understand what they could be doing to communities like Springfield with their words. They’re not helping. They’re hurting communities like ours with their words.”
