Date Posted: 17-Sep-2024
Author: Lewis Galvin, London
Key points
- Event: Unidentified actors made at least 33 bomb threats against several educational institutions, hospitals, and public buildings in Springfield, Ohio, between 12 and 15 September
- Significance: The threats followed weeks of unproven accusations, including by the Republican presidential and vice-presidential nominees, that members of Springfield's Haitian immigrant community were stealing and eating household pets. The statements have stoked anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of the 5 November presidential election
- Outlook: Anti-immigrant rhetoric was prevalent in US political discourse during early 2024 and became the most important issue for voters in February. Janes assesses that this is very likely to persist in the next one to two months, with a heightened risk that immigrant communities will be subjected to further threats and physical attacks until the election
Event
Unidentified actors made at least 33 bomb threats against several educational institutions, hospitals, and public buildings in Springfield, Ohio, between 12 and 15 September
On 15 September the FBI Cincinnati Field Office announced it was investigating a series of bomb threats made towards several educational institutions, hospitals, and public buildings in Springfield, Ohio, between 12 and 15 September. Ohio public radio station WYSO reported on 13 September that Springfield city commissioners and a government employee had also received bomb threats via email earlier that day. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine told reporters on 16 September that at least 33 separate hoax bomb threats had been made during this period. The assailants responsible had not been publicly identified at the time of publication and there had been no claims of responsibility.
The bomb threats followed a direct attack on a Haitian family in Springfield on 10 September. The Haitian Times reported the following day that an unnamed resident had had her cars vandalised, including with acid, and windows broken by an unidentified assailant.
Significance
The threats followed weeks of unproven accusations, including by the Republican presidential and vice-presidential nominees, that members of Springfield's Haitian immigrant community were stealing and eating household pets. The statements have stoked anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of the 5 November presidential election.
The intensity of threats over a short time period between 12 and 15 September is very likely linked to unproven allegations that Springfield's Haitian immigrant community has been stealing and eating household pets. The allegations have been amplified by right-wing commentators. According to the Springfield community website, approximately 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian immigrants live in Springfield.
Former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reiterated the allegations during the 10 September televised presidential debate with Vice-President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Trump's vice-presidential candidate and Ohio Senator JD Vance echoed the allegations during several televised interviews, including with CBS and CNN, on 15 September. Vance told CBS that “everybody who has dealt with a large influx of migration knows that sometimes there are cultural practices that seem very far out there to a lot of Americans”. Springfield city officials, including Mayor Rob Rue on 9 September, the Springfield Police Department on 10 September, and DeWine on 12 September repeatedly denied the allegations.
The events in Springfield demonstrate the broader threat of misinformation and disinformation campaigns in the run-up to the 5 November presidential election, particularly related to immigration. According to the Pew Research Center on 9 September, immigration was the second-most important issue among Trump supporters, with 82% of registered voters considering it “very important”. Among Harris's supporters, immigration was the 10th most important issue. Stanford University's Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence department published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal on 15 June 2022, highlighting that immigration rhetoric had become “increasingly hostile” along partisan lines in the US since 1990.
Videos circulating on social media purportedly showed a small-scale march by far-right non-state armed group (NSAG) the Proud Boys in Springfield on 14 September. CBS News corroborated this on 16 September and said that a branch of the Ku Klux Klan had “spread leaflets with hateful messages” in Springfield. Janes was unable to independently verify the videos. There was no indication of any violence.
For more information, please see Misinformation-fuelled bomb threats in Ohio underline heightened risk to public buildings and immigrant communities across the US ahead of presidential election
