Donald Trump made more incendiary comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, amid threats to the city prompted by GOP statements.
While speaking to reporters in Los Angeles on Friday, the former president and current Republican nominee threatened to deport the Haitians in Springfield, despite the majority of them being in the U.S. legally.
“We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large deportations. We’re going to get these people out. We’re bringing them back to Venezuela,” he said. It’s unclear if he meant to say Venezuela.
On Thursday, multiple buildings, including City Hall were evacuated after a bomb threat. An elementary school was also evacuated and closed Friday after the threat. The threats arrived the same week that Trump amplified baseless claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield. About 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants live in the area surrounding Springfield, according to ABC News. The western Ohio city’s metro area population is about 136,000.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said at the presidential debate on Tuesday night. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.”
The remarks stemmed from far-right users online who conflated a missing cat in Springfield with an unrelated video of a woman being arrested after allegedly eating a cat. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, made similar comments earlier this month about the Haitian community, repeating the baseless claims about Haitians stealing and eating pets.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance tweeted in a post on X. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost leaned into the lie on Friday, stating that “there’s a recorded police call from a witness who saw immigrants capturing geese for food in Springfield.” But Springfield’s deputy director of public safety and operations, Jason Via, told NPR that although authorities are familiar with the claim, there have been no such reports.
“We get these reports, ‘The Haitians are killing ducks in a lot of our parks’ or ‘The Haitians are eating vegetables right out of the aisle at the grocery store,’” Via said. “And we haven’t really seen any of that. It’s really frustrating.”
Both the Springfield mayor and the Ohio governor have dismissed the allegations, saying they have no merit. President Joe Biden also condemned the threats facing the Springfield community and the claims spread by GOP leaders.
“It is simply wrong that the proud Haitian community is under attack right now in this country,” Biden said. “There’s no place in America. This has to stop ― what he’s doing. It has to stop,” the president said at a White House event, referring to Trump’s comments.
It’s unclear whether the threats directed at the Springfield community were targeted, but the mayor told The Washington Post on Thursday that the threats contained “hateful language” toward Haitians and other immigrants.