Springfield, OH Shaken By National Attention Over Immigration
Summary from the AllSides News Team
As life in Springfield, Ohio was disrupted by national and global attention, vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance was widely criticized for repeating unproven claims about Haitian migrants eating pets.
The Details: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced Monday that Springfield schools would be swept twice daily after receiving "at least 33" bomb threats, all of which turned out to be "hoaxes" from "overseas," and many "from a particular country."
Key Quotes:
- Asked by CNN (Lean Left bias) why he promoted pet-eating claims, Sen. Vance (R-OH) said “The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do."
- "All these federal politicians that have negatively spun our city, they need to know they're hurting our city, and it was their words that did it," Springfield's Republican mayor Rob Rue told WSYX ABC 6 (Not Rated).
How the Media Covered It: Breitbart (Right bias) and Daily Wire (Right) led with DeWine calling the bomb threats "hoaxes" from "overseas." In contrast, Reason (Lean Right) and Washington Examiner (Lean Right) centered on Vance's debunked statements. Axios (Lean Left) reported on a canceled festival, and NBC on a "confrontation" at a Haitian community center.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
‘Springfield, Ohio, is caught in a political vortex, and it is a bit out of control’
In this city thrust unwillingly into the white hot center of Donald Trump’s immigration wars, conspiratorial fervor lept from internet memes into the humdrum tasks of everyday life. Just since Tuesday, bomb threats shuttered city hall, closed a middle school and forced the evacuation of two elementary schools. Even the city’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Ohio License Bureau closed Thursday.
As its own senator and the former president trafficked baseless claims that immigrants in this blue-collar swath of Ohio have been abducting and eating pets — something the...
From the Center
Ohio GOP Gov. DeWine says ‘at least 33’ bomb threats prompt Springfield to begin daily school sweeps
Ohio state police will conduct daily sweeps of schools in Springfield after authorities have been forced to investigate “at least 33” bomb threats that led to evacuations and temporary building closures, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday.
“We want to make sure, as school continues this week in Springfield, that parents have confidence that the school is in fact safe,” the Republican governor said at a press conference.
From the Right
Vance pushing rumors about Springfield after first poster walked back comments
Erika Lee, the woman behind the viral Facebook post that stoked rumors about Haitian immigrants eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, tried to walk back her comments.
The original post went live as a result of a twisted game of telephone. Lee’s post included a claim about a missing cat that she said she heard about from a friend, who heard about the missing pet from someone else.
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