President of college in Springfield denounces ‘falsehoods’ after bomb threats force classes online

The president of a small, private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio, on Tuesday denounced “falsehoods” spread by Donald Trump and his running mate after they claimed that Haitian immigrants were eating pets — an amplified rumor that led to bomb threats being called into schools.

Michael Frandsen, president of Wittenberg University, told CNN on Tuesday that the school moved classes online and canceled all on-campus events “until at least Sunday, Sept. 22” after it received shooting and bomb threats from a single source over the weekend and on Monday.

“Some have been very general, some have been specific and actually named students,” Frandsen said on CNN about the threats.

The school, with approximately 1,300 students, is working with law enforcement to trace that source, he said.

But Wittenberg wasn’t the only college in Springfield that received threats after the city was thrust into the national spotlight when Trump, during a nationally televised debate, and his allies began spreading unproven claims of Haitians eating pets there.

Clark State College, a public community college with approximately 6,000 students in the city, moved online through Friday after it received a shooting threat on Saturday and a bomb threat on Sunday.

K-12 students, however, are attending classes in person this week, albeit with increased security. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said during a press conference Monday that 36 members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol's Mobile Field Force would secure and sweep each of the schools in the Springfield City School District, beginning Tuesday morning.

Authorities have investigated “at least 33 separate bomb threats,” according to DeWine. The governor said that none of the threats have been legitimate.

Vance has continued to defend his focus on Haitian immigrants in the Ohio city, even as local officials ask for him to stop, including Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, who called repeatedly for “help not hate” on Tuesday.

“If you have the national stage and you are a national politician, please understand the words that you are saying have great weight in how they can negatively affect a community like Springfield, Ohio,” Rue said on MSNBC. “I just ask that it would quiet down.”

Trump has also continued to demonize the Haitian community in Springfield. On Friday, he said the Haitian migrants were “destroying their way of life” in the city and threatened mass deportations.

“Illegal Haitian migrants have descended upon a town of 58,000 people, destroying their way of life,” Trump said during a news conference at his golf course in Southern California.

Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said in a statement that Trump will continue to “talk about making America safe again” while the “media continues to try and distract” Americans from other problems “because a community of 60,000 Ohioans has been overwhelmed by a sudden influx of migrants.”

On Tuesday, Frandsen emphasized a call for support and unity from individuals “who can provide that help” — like Trump or Vance.

“Whether it's the governor of the state of Ohio, whether it's the vice president of the United States or whether it's a candidate for the presidency of the United States, we need help not hate,” Frandsen said on CNN.