Springfield Schools Closed After Bomb Threats Linked to MAGA’s Anti-Immigrant Conspiracy Theory
Two elementary schools were evacuated and a middle school was shut down in Springfield, Ohio, Friday following a series of bomb threats, marking the second consecutive day of chaos for the city at the center of the anti-immigrant conspiracy theory pushed by MAGA influencers online and the Trump campaign.
The threats, which first surfaced Thursday, were sent via email to multiple agencies and media outlets. Mayor Rob Rue told the Washington Post that the emails “used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community.”
Students at the evacuated schools were released to their parents, though authorities have yet to confirm whether these latest threats were linked to those from the previous day.
Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott told ABC News that K-9 units had been dispatched on Thursday to sweep several key locations, including City Hall and two elementary schools while the FBI work to trace the origin of the threats.
The timing of these threats coincides with a disturbing rise in baseless claims targeting Haitian migrants in the area. These rumors, which falsely accused Haitian immigrants of abducting and eating their neighbors’ pets, have been spread online and amplified by prominent right-wing influencers and even the Trump campaign directly. Former President Donald Trump himself then raised the claims during Tuesday’s presidential debate.
City officials were quick to denounce the claims as misinformation. A police spokesperson said there had been “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed” by immigrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) also condemned the rumors.
