As the city continues to deal with sudden national attention due to false claims regarding its Haitian community, bomb threats on Friday forced the evacuation and closure of public schools and municipal facilities for a second consecutive day.
Snowhill and Perrin Woods Elementary Schools in Springfield “were evacuated from their buildings to an alternate district location,” according to Jenna Leinasars, a spokesman for the school district.
Leinasars also stated that Roosevelt Middle School was “closed prior to the beginning of the school day” according to the information provided by the Springfield Police Department.
Apart from the school evacuations, an email bomb threat was directed towards a few city commissioners and a municipal worker, according to city spokesperson Karen Graves.
According to Graves, a second email threatened several places, including the Ohio License Bureau Southside, Perrin Woods Elementary School, Roosevelt Middle School, Springfield City Hall, and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
“As a precaution, all affected buildings have been evacuated. Authorities, with the support of explosive detection canines, have conducted thorough inspections and cleared the facilities listed in the threats,” Graves stated.
“To determine the origin of these email threats,” local police and FBI officers stationed in Dayton are working, according to the city official.
A nationwide political firestorm centered on the city just west of Columbus contained unfounded reports that Haitian immigrants were snatching and consuming domestic animals. According to police and city officials, there is no reliable information to back up those absurd allegations.
Read Also: Detectives Reveal: Woman Paid Ex $1,000 Following Grandparents’ Murders
These untrue allegations have been promoted by former President Donald Trump and his running partner, JD Vance, as part of a larger campaign to use Springfield as an illustration of what they allege are the negative effects of immigration.
The candidate for vice president has also claimed that there has been a “massive rise in communicable diseases” in Springfield; however, commissioner Chris Cook of the Clark County Combined Health District refuted that claim on Friday.
