The mayor of the Ohio city at the center of a firestorm over immigration says that his town needs help — not the hate that has been stirred by politicians and extremists.

“We are hurting,” the mayor of Springfield, Rob Rue, said in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday.

The tensions over the growing Haitian population in Springfield exploded this week after former President Donald Trump used the presidential debate to spread debunked rumors that Haitians were stealing pets and eating them.

Bomb threats led to evacuations of government buildings and schools for a second consecutive day. On Thursday, Springfield City Hall, two schools and the state motor vehicle agency’s local facility were evacuated after the threats. On Friday, an emailed threat said bombs had been planted in the homes of Rue and other city officials, said Karen Graves, a city spokesperson. A second email said that bombs would be detonated at locations including City Hall, a high school, a middle school, two elementary schools, a local office of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles and a licensing bureau.

The buildings were evacuated, and authorities with explosive-detection dogs swept and cleared them, officials said.

Rue said the threats were a “hateful response to immigration in our town.”

“Obviously, the negative response and threats are very sad and hard to handle,” he said. “We want to move forward together, and it just makes it more difficult to do that when we have violent actions and threats.”

Even before the debate, the city had been drawing attention, stirred by Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, and others who sought to portray the influx of Haitians as a failure of the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

“It’s frustrating when national politicians, on the national stage, mischaracterize what is actually going on and misrepresent our community,” Rue said.

While the arrival of thousands of Haitian immigrants has strained schools and some government services, most of the Haitians are in the United States legally and many have filled jobs in local industry.

But it was the death of 11-year-old Aiden Clark, killed last year when his school bus was struck by a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant, that began stirring anger and anxiety, ultimately thrusting Springfield into a vitriolic national debate over immigration.

On Tuesday, Vance referred to Aiden in a post on social platform X, saying that “a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant.”

Later that day, Aiden’s father, Nathan Clark, lashed out at Vance and others he said were exploiting his son’s death for political gain.

“My son was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti,” Clark, a teacher, said at a Springfield City Commission meeting.

“This tragedy is felt all over this community, the state and even the nation, but don’t spin this towards hate,” he continued.

Yet, it was not too long into the presidential debate that night before Trump was talking about the town and spreading debunked claims about Haitians. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and other Republicans posted mocking videos with kittens that went viral. Elon Musk also joined the social media frenzy.

The Haitians have filled jobs in manufacturing, distribution and other sectors and been welcomed by many employers. But the volume and pace of arrivals has put pressure on housing, health care and schools in the city, which is between Columbus and Dayton and had nearly 60,000 residents in 2020, according to census figures that year.

Estimates of the number of Haitians who have arrived range from 12,000 to 20,000.

“We can’t deny that adding 25 to 30% to our population in a three-year period would overwhelm services,” Rue said.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced this week that the state would provide Springfield with $2.5 million to ease strains on primary health care, and would deploy members of the state highway patrol to improve road safety. The mayor said that he was still hoping to receive federal assistance.

Among the targets of Thursday’s bomb threat was an elementary school that has a large Haitian student body. Apprehension has enveloped the Haitian community in Springfield this week, said Vilés Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center.

Dorsainvil said that he had fielded many calls from families concerned for their children’s safety.

“People started panicking,” he said. “I tried to help them understand that it’s just politics.”

Vance’s campaign weighed in on the tensions on Thursday night. “Sen. Vance condemns these threats and believes that those responsible should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said Luke Schroeder, a spokesperson for the vice-presidential nominee.

Haiti is engulfed in violence, political upheaval and a humanitarian crisis, which have led tens of thousands of Haitians to move to other countries, including Brazil, Chile and the United States.

“At the end of the day, we are here,” Dorsanivil said. “We have been through a lot and are resilient people.”

On a Haitian WhatsApp chat group, Haitian leaders urged community members to “keep calm, stay informed, stay safe and stay connected.”

“Don’t let tension and fear make you make bad decisions,” said the message in Haitian Creole.

“Do not listen to rumors or unconfirmed information,” it advised them, according to a screenshot provided to the Times that was translated into English.

“I am feeling uncomfortable in this situation. I am asking myself what I should do,” said Jean Frantz, 35, the father of two children.

“They are spreading lies that I can’t believe,” he said. “We work, pay taxes, buy cars and respect the law.”

Rue said his message to the Haitian community was one of sympathy. “I am sorry this is going on in our community and that they have to endure this type of hate,” he said.

Trump threatens deportations

Donald Trump and his running mate on Friday continued to disparage Haitian migrants in an Ohio community, further fueling false claims the Republicans have promoted even as the city saw bomb threats and school evacuations and local officials called for a cooling of the anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“We will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio,” Trump said Friday during a news conference in California, adding that he could possibly hold a campaign event or town hall in the city and claiming the migrants are “destroying the way of life.”

Ohio authorities have said there are no credible or detailed reports to support the debunked allegations circulated this week by both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, that Haitian immigrants are eating domestic pets and birds in the city’s public parks.

On Friday, President Joe Biden said the Haitian community is “under attack” right now, and called for an end to Republicans’ comments.

“It’s simply wrong. There’s no place in America,” Biden said while speaking at a White House luncheon. “This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop.”

Trump suggested Friday that local officials aren’t being truthful about the problem because of its severity. While he stated the “real threat” of immigration is happening at the Southern border, he said, “The people of Ohio are scared.”

In a post on X on Friday Vance stated, without evidence, that Springfield has experienced “a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime.”

Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.