ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Today, the city of Springfield, Ohio, evacuated its City Hall, a school and other locations after officials there received a bomb threat. This came after unfounded rumors on social media about Haitians who live in the community kidnapping and consuming pets. Those rumors have been propagated by former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance. To be clear, there is no proven connection between their statements and the threat. Reporter Kathryn Mobley from member station WYSO has been following the story. Hi, Kathryn.
KATHRYN MOBLEY, BYLINE: Hi. How are you doing, Ari?
SHAPIRO: All right. You attended the press conference where officials spoke about the bomb threats. What did they say?
MOBLEY: Local officials would not answer questions directly regarding this morning's bomb threat. The city's police chief did read a statement indicating her office as well as Clark County deputies are working with area FBI agents analyzing the email, trying to figure out its origin. Also, this morning, as you said, all municipal offices - city, county, and state offices - were evacuated and closed. Tomorrow morning, however, Springfield offices will reopen with limited hours beginning at 9 a.m.
SHAPIRO: You've been talking to people in Springfield all week. So, you know, like, what have Haitians there had to say about the rumors?
MOBLEY: They think they are absolutely baseless. I've spoken with a number of Haitians. Some relocated to Springfield following family. Others responded to the city calling for people to work in new various manufacturing jobs in the area. Others are actually business owners, and they said they wanted - they want to contribute to Springfield's economy. I spoke with Bianca Daniel, who runs a commercial beauty store in Springfield. She says her primary audience are African Americans, and she's concerned these baseless rumors of Haitians stealing and eating pets will cause people to not want to patronize her business. She calls the rumors ridiculous.
BIANCA DANIEL: People that came to the U.S. know pets are like children. All Haitians know that. So I really don't think any Haitian would have done something like that.
MOBLEY: Daniel also says she has a 6-year-old daughter who attends first grade at one of the area elementary schools, and she is concerned about her daughter and other Haitian students being bullied in school because of these rumors.
SHAPIRO: Yeah. Well, community and religious leaders also held a press conference this afternoon. What did you hear from them?
MOBLEY: They represented churches, nonprofits, such as members of the Nehemiah Foundation, the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, Central Christian Church and Covenant Presbyterian Church. They actually all gathered outside of Covenant. And they emphasized while Springfield is a small city of just under 60,000, and it does have its challenges, they said, overall, people work together, and it's a nice place to live. The president of the Springfield chapter of NAACP is Denise Williams. She thinks former President Donald Trump and JD Vance both owe the community an apology for spreading these baseless rumors about their Haitian communities.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DENISE WILLIAMS: We already on edge, but with the comments from our government - has made it worse. We need peace in our community. It is time to embrace each other. It is time to dispel the rumors.
MOBLEY: Also, you know, because of the influx of the Haitians, it has put a strain on services. Governor Mike DeWine has just committed $2.5 million towards expanding primary care access for everyone who lives in Springfield - also for more translation services and to provide driver education classes to the Haitian community.
SHAPIRO: That's reporter Kathryn Mobley of WYSO in Ohio. Thank you.
MOBLEY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
