The latest from Springfield, Ohio : NPR

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

Ohio Senator JD Vance is defending baseless claims he has made about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. The Republican vice presidential nominee made the rounds on a number of morning talk shows today. Here he is on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “MEET THE PRESS”)

JD VANCE: Clearly, these rumors are out there because constituents are seeing it with their own eyes, and some of them are talking about it.

DETROW: And on CNN’s “State Of The Union,” Vance told anchor Dana Bash, this…

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH”)

VANCE: If I have to…

DANA BASH: But it wasn’t just a meme, sir.

VANCE: …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, Dana.

DETROW: The threat of violence has loomed over Springfield in recent days after former President Trump pushed those baseless rumors at the presidential debate on Tuesday. And since then, bomb threats have forced lockdowns at government buildings, hospitals and schools. Members of the Haitian community in Springfield have expressed anger, confusion and fear. We’re going to turn now to reporter Chris Welter from member station WYSO, who has been covering this. Hey, Chris.

CHRIS WELTER, BYLINE: Hey. How you doing, Scott?

DETROW: What’s happening on the ground in Springfield?

WELTER: Yeah, we have the – a fourth day in a row of bomb threats. Wittenberg University, which is a small liberal arts college there, has shut things down today because of bomb threats they received. And then just about an hour ago, Clark State College, which is the local community college in the city of Springfield, has also announced that they will be going virtual for this entire week. And local law enforcement and the FBI have been investigating these threats, and nothing has been found. They’re suspecting that these are swatting…

DETROW: Got it.

WELTER: …Instances where basically they’re trying to – you know, whoever’s making these calls is trying to draw in or trying to, you know, put the law enforcement there…

DETROW: Right.

WELTER: …In certain parts of the town. So yeah, and then also, there’s just a – continue to be kind of far-right groups, like the Proud Boys, marching in certain parts of the city.

DETROW: What are people there telling you about all of this?

WELTER: Well, the Haitian community says they feel unsafe. They actually gathered last evening to speak out about kind of what they’ve been experiencing because this has been going on for some time, this sort of harassment. You know, Haitian folks have been in the community for at least five years. So they – the conversation was supposed to be in person, but then it ended up being virtual because of threats they received. One of those people I – who was on the call last night but was not there in person was Jims Denis. He’s Haitian, and he lives in Springfield with his family. He owns a couple businesses, and he says that, you know, especially recently, he’s felt unsafe riding his bike or even going and taking his kids to the park.

JIMS DENIS: You know, with the bomb threats and everything that is going on, Haitians are not safe in Springfield anymore.

DETROW: Is there anything positive to come out of all of this?

WELTER: Yeah, I think that one thing that I’ve seen is that there’s been a lot of people coming to support the Haitian businesses there. There’s a, you know, thriving – you know, when you have thousands of people, they’ve been opening businesses. And I was at Rose Goute Creole Restaurant in Springfield earlier today, and it was packed. I mean, the line was almost out the door. It was a diverse group of people. There were Haitian folks there. There were white folks there, Black folks there. And they said they wanted to come and, you know, support a local Haitian business. And it’s been like this for days. You know, a lot of people have been, you know, organizing on social media and coming for dinner as well.

So I talked with Stephanie Whittaker, who is from Omaha, Neb., and she was actually road tripping to Baltimore and decided to stop for lunch in Springfield, and she had heard on the news about what the Haitian people here have been dealing with.

STEPHANIE WHITTAKER: Obviously, there’s been a little craziness and rumors around here. So the Jesus that my mom taught me about told me to build bigger tables and help people. So I thought I would come and see if there was anything actually happening, and we just got really good food. So we kind of lucked out, I guess.

DETROW: On that note, it is Sunday, a busy church day. What are the communities’ faith leaders saying about all of this?

WELTER: Yeah, the faith leaders in Springfield have been, you know, supporting the Haitian community for years. And, you know, we should mention that almost all of the Haitians are here legally, and they’re welcomed in Springfield. And all across the political spectrum, church leaders have been, you know, denouncing how their Haitian neighbors have been treated. Carl Ruby, in particular, who’s the senior pastor at a nondenominational church called Central Christian Church, has really developed relationships with the Haitian community. And he invited Haitian people in the community to attend his service today, and they did.

CARL RUBY: There are risks to standing with oppressed people. And our Haitian friends are not oppressed out of any fault of their own. They’re oppressed because of what people in our community are doing to them. They are a strong, proud, capable group of people, and we absolutely love them.

WELTER: And Pastor Ruby actually considered canceling today’s service or bringing it entirely online because of the threats he’d received and his church had received. But he said he wanted to be there for the Haitian folks in the community who attend his church. He also announced today that he’s going to print out 15,000 cards in Haitian Creole and English that says that, you know, they’re glad that they’re here – that, you know, people from his congregation are glad that the Haitian folks are here. And that’s because other people in the community have printed out their own sort of messages telling Haitian people to return home and…

DETROW: Yeah.

WELTER: …Distributing those. So I’d say in general, the mood among Haitian folks that I’ve talked to is hopeful. But there is a sense of anxiety and fear, and I think that’s going to last for a while.

DETROW: That’s Chris Welter of member station WYSO. Thank you so much.

WELTER: Thanks, Scott.

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