Springfield, Ohio residents continue to face threats after pet-eating joke

Residents of Springfield, Ohio, continue to face threats to their community weeks after former President Donald Trump made unverified claims during a presidential debate two weeks ago that Haitian immigrants were stealing and eating pets.

According to city government estimates, at least 15,000 Haitian immigrants have moved to the region, causing population congestion.

Denise Williams, president of the Springfield NAACP, said she was one of those who had been threatened.

“We are in a terrible situation here and I have nothing to be afraid of. But I have to be honest and say that I am a little nervous sometimes, but that only makes me stronger. My team and I are here to speak out against all kinds of threats that our community faces,” she told Scripps News.

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The ongoing threats are putting a strain on the city’s resources, Mayor Rob Rue said Tuesday.

“This is definitely a costly endeavor for our community, given the increased security measures we have had to experience and also given the additional communities around us supporting us along with the state of Ohio,” Rue said.

Ohio State’s response includes members of the Ohio Highway Patrol, who are guarding area schools after classrooms were closed due to multiple threats in the days following the debate.

Williams said hate groups had been “emboldened.”

“They are not afraid to say what they have to say and that is unfortunate,” she said. “This is like a nightmare. The community is worried. The Haitian community is afraid. They don’t want to come out.”

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Jacob Payen of the Haitian Community Alliance said the community is not angry, but: “We believe there is a big, big misunderstanding.”

“We’re trying to use this as an opportunity as a community,” Payen said. “I would say we’re scared right now. Scared because some of us don’t want to go to the supermarket to buy groceries at all. Some of us don’t even want to send our children there anymore because there have been several bomb threats in the past week.”