The police chief of Springfield, Ohio, has come under fire for refusing to answer reporter questions in relation to reported threats of violence in the town.
Springfield was thrust into the national spotlight at the start of September amid allegations that Haitian migrants were eating pets. Since then, the town has become a metaphor for the country’s growing problems related to as crime and immigration.
A series of violent threats have since plagued the residents. A shooting was threatened at Clark State College on Saturday, Sept. 14 – one day before a bomb threat was sent to the same school – forcing the campus to close for virtual learning this week instead.
Springfield Police Chief Allison Elliott held a press conference on Sunday, Sept. 15 regarding the threats. However, she provided little information beyond what local law enforcement had already confirmed, and refused to take any questions on the threats. When one reporter asked whether the threats were related to each other or the heightened attention on the town, Elliott responded, “Again, we are not taking questions at this time.”
Protests from reporters were met with the city manager’s media office offering to respond via email.
It later turned out that the bomb threats and shooting threats were all hoaxes.
At a press conference, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said that all 33 bomb threats against schools in Springfield were hoaxes from overseas. “There have been bomb threats, each one of which has been responded to, and each one of which has been found as a hoax. So 33 threats, I will make that very, very clear, none of these had any validity at all,” DeWine said.
Many on social media were equally critical over the lack of transparency from Chief Allison Elliot.
The issue of immigration was also a popular talking point.
