When strangers were welcome here: A hopeful mixtape (slight return)

Created
Sun, 15/09/2024 - 10:00
Updated
Sun, 15/09/2024 - 10:00
Sadly, I can’t say that I was completely surprised by this: Bomb threats on Friday forced the evacuation and closure of public schools and municipal buildings [in Springfield, Ohio] for a second consecutive day, as the city continues to deal with sudden national attention due to false claims involving its Haitian population. Students at Perrin Woods and Snowhill Elementary Schools in Springfield “were evacuated from their buildings to an alternate district location,” school district spokesperson Jenna Leinasars said. […] In addition to those school evacuations, several city commissioners and a municipal employee were the target of an emailed bomb threat, city spokesperson Karen Graves said. […] Local police and FBI agents based in Dayton are working “to determine the origin of these email threats,” the city official said. The city just west of Columbus has been the focal point of a national political firestorm that has included false rumors that Haitian immigrants have been stealing and eating household pets. City officials and police have said there is no credible information to support those outlandish claims. Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have pushed those false claims as part of a broader effort to use Springfield as an example for what they say are the harmful consequences of immigration. Vance has also said there’s been a “massive rise in communicable diseases” in Springfield, but Clark County Combined Health District Commissioner Chris Cook said Friday that’s not accurate. And then there was this: OK…I’ll tell him. The strapping…