By Douglas Gillison
(Reuters) – The FBI said on Sunday it was assessing the credibility of threats against Haitians at Wittenberg University following baseless claims by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that the migrants in the town were eating cats and dogs.
The threats to open fire on Haitian migrants have forced the Springfield, Ohio, school to close its campus for a day.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s involvement follows similar threats made against migrants in the town after Trump and running mate Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio spotlighted false claims that Haitians who have settled in the town were eating residents’ cats and dogs.
Wittenberg announced on Saturday evening that all events scheduled for Sunday would be canceled following the emailed threat and warned students, faculty and staff to exercise extreme caution on campus.
“The FBI is working in coordination with the Springfield police department and Wittenberg University to determine the credibility of recent threats, share information, and take appropriate investigative action,” according to a statement from the FBI’s Cincinnati field office.
Haitians in the town now say they fear for their safety.
University spokesperson Karen Gerboth said on Sunday the university had received a second threat “but it was quickly cleared on campus.”
The university also said in an update at least one other unnamed area campus had received similar threats. In a post to the social media network X, Clark State College said it had canceled classes in a building on Thursday and Friday “due to a safety situation” in the town. A spokesperson for Clark could not be reached.
Sergeant Atkins of the Springfield Police Division, who declined to give his first name, told Reuters there was no significant activity to report in the campus area as of Sunday morning.
In a series of cable and broadcast television appearances on Sunday, Vance defended the baseless claims, maintaining they were not entirely unfounded and had helped call attention to the area’s social problems otherwise ignored by the news media.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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