Trump Is Now Endangering Children With His Racist Conspiracy Theory

The far-right’s pet-eating Haitian migrant conspiracy is having real-world ramifications for the town of Springfield, Ohio.

The epicenter of the conspiracy shut down three of its schools on Friday, reported ABC News. Perrin Woods and Snowhill Elementary were evacuated after receiving unspecified information from the Springfield Police Division, while Roosevelt Middle School was closed from the beginning of the school day due to similar threats, reported the Springfield News-Sun.

“The District is in the process of a controlled release to dismiss students to their parents,” the Springfield City School District said in a statement. “Additionally, Roosevelt Middle School was closed prior to the beginning of the school day in relation to the information received from the SPD.”

The educational gridlock comes one day after several other schools and a significant portion of Springfield’s government facilities—including City Hall, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Ohio License Bureau, the Springfield Academy of Excellence, and Fulton Elementary School—were shut down due to bomb threats.

Authorities have not directly tied Friday’s evacuations to the conspiracy, which accuses Haitian migrants who have settled in Springfield of stealing and eating their neighbors’ pets. The blatantly racist conspiracy has drawn national attention in recent weeks thanks to Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, both of whom have repeatedly elevated the evidenceless attack.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said during the presidential debate on Tuesday. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Meanwhile, Vance—who, again, represents Ohio—spent considerable time on the conspiracy this week. On Tuesday, the Republican shared that his office had received “many inquiries” from Springfield residents who were complaining about migrants eating their pets.

“It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” Vance said before continuing on his diatribe against Haitians.

Multiple city officials and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine have stated that the conspiracy is false. But that hasn’t stopped the Republican presidential ticket from endangering an entire town’s worth of people.