Springfield City Hall Evacuated After Bomb Threat as Town Deals With Haitian Migrant Crisis
The city hall in Springfield, Ohio, was forced to close on Thursday morning after receiving a bomb threat.
A city spokesperson stated that the threat was made in an email that was received around 8:24 a.m., as reported by WHIO. As a result, the building was immediately evacuated.
The city emphasized in a statement to ABC that its main priority is the safety and well-being of employees and residents and that it’s working to resolve the situation quickly, per the The Western Journal.
“We ask the community to avoid the area surrounding City Hall vicinity while the investigation is ongoing and to report any suspicious activity to the Springfield Police Division,” the statement read.
There was a significant police presence at City Hall, with officers from surrounding areas, including Dayton. WHIO reported that City Hall would remain closed for the remainder of the day.
City Hall wasn’t the only building to receive a bomb threat. Cleveland.com reported that Springfield’s Fulton Elementary School was also forced to close due to a bomb threat.
Springfield is at the center of a national debate over immigration, with allegations that Haitians in the community have been eating pets. While city officials have denied these claims, at least one official police report has documented an incident report involving Haitians and geese.
Springfield is home to 15,000 to 20,000 Haitians, many of whom arrived through the Temporary Protected Status program, which has seen expansions under President Joe Biden, according to The Western Journal.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost stated in a news release that his office is investigating ways to give communities the authority to reject specific decisions or actions.
The release reports that cities like Springfield “have been inundated and overwhelmed by surging migrant populations. The sudden and extreme population growth has strained the city’s economic, medical and educational systems.”
In the release, Yost commented, “This is absurd — Springfield’s population has increased by more than a third due to migrants.”
“These Haitians are running into trash cans. They’re running into buildings. They’re flipping cars in the middle of the street, and I don’t know how, like, y’all can be comfortable with this,” Springfield resident Anthony Harris told city officials last month, per the Federalist.
“They’re in the park, grabbing up ducks by the neck and cutting their heads off and eating them.”
At an August public hearing, a resident named Noel stated that Springfield had become “so unsafe” due to the influx of Haitians that she wanted to leave the town.
“I have men that cannot speak English in my front yard screaming at me, throwing mattresses in my front yard, throwing trash in my front yard. Look at me, I weigh 95 pounds. I couldn’t defend myself if I had to,” she said.
“Who’s protecting me?”
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