Two hospitals in Springfield, Ohio, were placed on lockdown after receiving a bomb threat, police said Saturday, the fourth in as many days that appears to be linked to a false claim circulating among the far-right that Haitian immigrants are eating pets and wildlife.
Saturday’s threats came even after the woman who started the rumors acknowledged to NBC News that they were unfounded and issued a public apology.
Kettering Health Springfield was one of the medical facilities targeted, and authorities later said nothing suspicious was found during the search. Another hospital, Mercy Health Springfield Regional Medical Center, received a similar threat.
A Mercy Health spokesperson said the hospital remains open and thanked Springfield police and hospital staff for their “fast, efficient and compassionate response.”
Saturday’s bomb threat came after a call was made to the government building on Thursday, leading to the building being locked down and local schools being evacuated.
“We know the past few days have been especially difficult for everyone in our community,” Springfield police said in a statement. Police added that “we remain committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of each and every individual.”
Springfield woman Erica Lee on Friday apologized for a rumor that spread about Haitian immigrants eating pets after a neighbor posted on Facebook about her daughter’s friend losing her cat and later finding the animal hanging outside the Haitian family’s home.
Lee now says she had no direct knowledge of the allegations, and Kimberly Newton, a neighbor mentioned in the post, also said she heard the story from an acquaintance, not from her daughter.
Lee said he was full of remorse and maintained he had never intended to target the Haitian community.
“It just exploded into something that I never intended for to happen,” Lee told NBC News on Friday.
Local authorities in Springfield had already exposed the lie before Donald Trump made the claim that Haitian immigrants eat pets during Tuesday’s debate with Kamala Harris. Lee told the outlet that he never imagined his social media posts would spark conspiracy theories and hate speech aimed at Springfield’s Haitian community.
“I’m not a racist,” Lee said, adding that her daughter is half black and Lee herself is mixed race and part of the LGBTQ+ community. “Everyone’s trying to make it racist, but that was never my intention.”
The city of Springfield believes the rumor may also have stemmed from an incident in Canton, Ohio, where an American with no known ties to Haiti was arrested in August for allegedly stamping on and eating a cat.
An explanation was also given for the viral photo of a man in Columbus, Ohio, carrying two geese, which also sparked a now-discredited rumor about pet eating in nearby Springfield.
The Ohio Department of Wildlife told TMZ that the man was picking up two geese that had been hit by a car. The department also reported that there was no evidence the man was Haitian or an immigrant and that he intended to eat the geese.
In 2017, Springfield, a city of 60,000, began attracting about 15,000 Haitian immigrants to work in local produce-packing and processing plants. They are now in high demand at Springfield’s Dole Fresh Vegetables and auto-processing plants that are struggling with labor shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic.
