The father of an 11-year-old killed in a bus crash involving a Haitian immigrant in Ohio called on former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance to stop using his son’s death for “political gain."
Nathan Clark, whose son Aiden died last year when a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant hit his school bus outside of Springfield, Ohio, made the emotional plea at a Springfield City Commission meeting this week, specifically naming Trump, Vance, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, all of whom he referred to as “morally bankrupt.”
“Look what you’ve done to us, we have to get up here and beg you to stop,” Clark said with Aiden’s mother standing next to him. “Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose.”
Clark added that he wished his son was killed by a “60-year-old white man.”
“And I bet you never thought someone would say something so blunt,” he said. “But if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone.”
Clark specifically took aim with the use of language that his son was “murdered,” saying instead that he was “accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti.”
He went on to urge Americans not to “follow their hate” and said he would listen to them one more time only to hear their apologies.
“They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis, and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members,” Clark said. “However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio.”
Earlier this week, in a post about Springfield on X, formerly Twitter, GOP vice presidential nominee Vance referenced the incident, saying in part that “a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here.”
The Ohio city of Springfield has been in the political spotlight amid the proliferation of claims that Haitian immigrants, an increasing population in the community, are kidnapping and eating people’s pets.
Attention on the claims, not based on evidence, surged this week when Vance posted on social media about Haitian immigrants in the community “generally causing chaos” and referenced “reports” of people having their pets “abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.”
He later noted in another post on X that “it’s possible” that the “rumors will turn out to be false.”
But in Tuesday night’s presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump doubled down on the claims, even when moderator, ABC anchor David Muir, told the former president that the Springfield city manager said he has received no credible reports of this taking place.
“They're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said.
In a video on Wednesday, the Springfield city manager, Bryan Heck, acknowledged “challenges related to the rapid growth of our immigrant population” but said those were “due to the pace of the growth rather than the rumors being reported.”
“These rumors will not distract us from addressing the real strain on our resources, including the impact to our schools, healthcare system and first responders,” he added.
Heck added that it is “disappointing that some of the narrative surrounding our city has been skewed by misinformation,” adding the claims have been “further amplified by political rhetoric.”
Law enforcement officials responded to bomb threats around Springfield on Thursday amid the attention on the city. It's unclear if they are connected to the baseless conspiracy theory.
Earlier this summer, the Biden administration announced it was allowing about 300,000 additional Haitians already living in the U.S. to be eligible for temporary legal status, citing unsafe conditions in the Caribbean country.