As Ohio town hit with bomb threats, Trump keeps posting lies about migrants eating pets

Officials in Springfield, Ohio closed City Hall Thursday after a bomb threat citing right-wing misinformation was issued to multiple facilities, the city said in a news release.

Donald Trump mentioned Springfield, Ohio during the presidential debate when promoting a false rumor that migrants there are eating people's pets. Local officials have previously confirmed the accounts are not true.

The bomb threat addressed multiple agencies and media outlets in an email that went out shortly before 8:30 a.m. Thursday. The email, obtained by USA TODAY, repeated the misinformation in part of a long prose disparaging Haitian people and saying a bomb in several buildings would detonate in hours.

"As a precautionary measure, the building has been evacuated, and authorities are currently conducting a thorough investigation," the release states. "Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our employees and residents. We are working to address this situation as swiftly as possible."

Springfield city spokesperson Karen Graves said City Hall was cleared but did not provide an update on the status of the investigation into who issued the threat.

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Bomb threat mentions false claim about migrants eating pets

The false rumor that Haitian migrants were stealing and eating pets began to circulate in the days leading up to the debate and was further popularized through posts from running mate J.D. Vance about his own state and AI-generated images shared by Trump, Elon Musk and the Republican House Judiciary Committee.

The emailed bomb threat said several disparaging things about Haiti and criticized politicians for allowing Haitian people into the country.

"My hometown of Springfield is becoming a thirdworld (expletive) because you allowed the federal government to dump these (expletive) here," the email stated. "We have Haitians eating our animals and then you lie and claim this is not happening when we see this happening. I’m here to send a message, I placed a bomb in the following locations..." it states, listing Springfield City Hall, Springfield Driver Exam Station, Ohio License Bureau Southside, Springfield Academy-Excellence and Fulton Elementary School as the places under threat.

Trump has posted several AI-generated images riffing on the false rumor about pets being eaten on Truth Social Thursday in the hours after the bomb threat.

A Trump campaign spokesperson blamed the media for "trying to distract the American people" from the problems the migrant community poses for Springfield.

Vance's team compared this incident to the media fact-checking claims that President Joe Biden influenced the assassination attempt against Trump.

"It’s laughable these same media outlets are now attempting to tie this threat to the GOP ticket," Luke Schroeder, spokesman for Senator Vance, said in an emailed statement. "Senator Vance condemns these threats and believes those responsible should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

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Springfield city manager speaks out against debate misinformation

At Tuesday's presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump touted the misinformation again.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating... they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said at the debate, which drew more than 67 million viewers.

Springfield city manager Bryan Heck defended the city against the misinformation in a video messaged posted on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.

"It is disappointing that some of the narrative surrounding our city has been skewed by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified political rhetoric in the current highly charged presidential election cycle," Heck said.

Heck said the city has made economic, industrial and developmental progress, in part due to population growth which includes immigrants.

He said the pace of the population growth has also posed challenges, but none related to the misinformation being spread.

"These rumors will not distract us from addressing the real strain on our resources," Heck said, mentiong schools, health care systems and first responders. "We will continue to work collaboratively with our community partners to face these challegenges head on and move Springfield forward together."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Springfield, Ohio City Hall bomb threat mentions pet-eating debate lie