False pet claims ‘hurtful’ to residents: DeWine

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WJW) – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine made a stop in Springfield on Tuesday, one day after calling in the highway patrol to help keep schools there safe.

DeWine and his wife, Fran, made a visit to Simon Kenton Elementary School in Springfield. They met with teachers and students, as well as patrol staff that was called in to help at the schools.

Springfield has seen an uptick in threats following the presidential debate. Governor DeWine says there have been dozens of bomb threats but all of them have been deemed hoaxes.

The threats started coming in after Former President Donald Trump claimed Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pets. The Mayor, Chief of Police and City Manager have all said there is no evidence of it.

Following the school visit, DeWine spoke with News Nation’s Chris Cuomo. Cuomo asked him why there is such a big population of Haitians in Springfield. DeWine explained that Springfield was a great industrial city that went down in the 70s and 80s, but now it’s coming back, thanks in part to the Haitians. The employers tell DeWine it has been a huge change.

“Right after the pandemic they could not find people to work,” said DeWine. “They started looking and there were some Haitians they hired. They said there are some cultural problems, language problems, but what they found is that these are people who wanted to work.”

Of the 58,000 people in Springfield, 15,000 of them are Haitians. DeWine says they are legal immigrants who are paying taxes. He said with the influx of immigrants there have been some problems. They are working on bringing people in to teach the Haitians English, teach them how to drive, and most importantly, getting primary care for all the children.

Republican VP candidate JD Vance continues to talk about Springfield on the campaign trail. While in Wisconsin Tuesday he said he’s hearing local law enforcement agencies are stressed out by the growing population of migrants. Vance says they will plan a visit to the town soon.

As a Republican, DeWine says he does support Trump and his focus on the border but says this has been hurtful to the people in Springfield.

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