Trump’s lies about immigrants eating dogs instigate bomb threat

“In Springfield, immigrants are eating the cats and dogs.” The fallout from the comments made by Republican presidential candidate and former President of the U.S. During a presidential debate on Tuesday (local time), Donald Trump on immigrants is growing. A bomb threat was made in the city mentioned by the former president.

“Due to a bomb threat that was issued to multiple facilities throughout Springfield today, City Hall is closed today,” the city government of Springfield, Ohio, said on Thursday. “An email threatening to bomb multiple organizations and press was received at 8:24 am on Thursday,” said an official of the city government. Many Haitian immigrants live in Springfield and have also expressed fear. Some immigrant families have reportedly kept their children home from school since the debate.

The U.S. government and local authorities are focusing on getting the word out that Trump’s comments are lies. “We have not received any reports of immigrants eating other residents’ pets,” a Springfield city official said. The White House also criticized Trump’s comments on Thursday, saying his comments spread filth and threaten people’s lives.

However, the conspiracy theory of immigrants eating pets continues to spread, especially among the far-right wing of the Republican Party. The claim has been reportedly attributed to Laura Loomer, a well-known far-right conspiracy theorist.

“Loomer spread the conspiracy theory of immigrants eat pets on social media in the days before the debate,” the British newspaper, The Times, reported. ”She encouraged Trump to use it against his opponent.” CNN also reported that Loomer even has Trump’s personal phone number and has considerable influence over him, citing a source.


김보라 기자 purple@donga.com