「ペット食べる」街に爆破予告３３件 知事にも殺害の脅し 米オハイオ州

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米オハイオ州のマイク・デワイン知事は１６日、「移民がペットを食べている」とドナルド・トランプ前大統領らが主張する同州スプリングフィールドに、３３件の爆破予告があったと明かした。（写真は爆破予告を受けた米オハイオ州スプリングフィールドの市庁舎に出動した警察車両）
　デワイン氏は同地で記者会見し、「少なくとも３３件の爆破予告を受けた」が、全てがいたずらだったと話した。そのうちの数件はある特定の国からだったとしたが、国名は示さなかった。
　トランプ氏をはじめとする共和党幹部らは、スプリングフィールド在住のハイチからの移民がペットを盗んで食べていると吹聴。また、犯罪増大の要因になっているといった陰謀論を広めている。
　トランプ氏が先週の大統領選討論会で「彼らは犬を食べている」と主張して以来、スプリングフィールドには爆破や銃撃などの予告が相次いでいる。１６日には、学校２校が休校を余儀なくされた。
　住民のハイチ人の一部はＡＦＰに、命の危険を感じていると話した。
　デワイン氏も先に、殺害予告を受けたと告白した。同氏は共和党員だが、反移民的な陰謀論については否定している。
　コロンバス市にあるオハイオ州議会もこの日、爆破予告を受けた。ＡＢＣ系列局は、予告には「スプリングフィールドのハイチ人住民に対する侮蔑的な言葉が含まれていた」と報じた。
　デワイン氏はこうした事態を受け、「子どもたちには学校で学ぶ権利がある」とし、安全対策として、州ハイウエーパトロール所属の隊員３６人を市全域に配備すると発表した。隊員は毎朝、学校に不審物などがないか調べ、終業まで構内にとどまるという。
　白人が大半を占めるスプリングフィールドの人口は２０２０年時点で６万人弱だったが、近年急増。新住民の多くは、好調な経済情勢に引き付けられたハイチ移民で、１万～１万５０００人が流入した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/09/17-17:50）

The town of Springfield has seen some three dozen bomb threats as it endures being the center of Republican-boosted conspiracy theories about immigration, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Monday.
We have received at least 33 separate bomb threats, DeWine told a news conference in the city.
They were all hoaxes, he said, adding that some of them have come from a foreign country, which he did not name.
Racist rumors, amplified by top Republicans including presidential candidate Donald Trump, have falsely said that the town's Haitian immigrant community is stealing and eating people's pets and causing a crime wave.
Since Trump declared they're eating the dogs at last week's presidential debate, threats of bombings, shootings or other violence have poured in, including on Monday when two schools were shut down.
Some Haitians living in the city have told AFP they feared for their lives. The mayor has said he is receiving death threats.
It was unclear if DeWine's figure included the threats about shootings and other violence, or the bomb threat made Monday against the Ohio state legislature, in Columbus.
Two schools in Springfield were evacuated Monday, local media reported, though authorities had not yet released details about the threats that prompted the closures.
The local ABC affiliate in Columbus reported that the statehouse threat included derogatory remarks about Springfield's Haitian's population.
Our children deserve to be in school, DeWine said, announcing that 36 troopers from the state Highway Patrol would be stationed throughout the city to provide extra security.
The troopers will sweep the schools each morning and remain on site throughout the day, said DeWine, a Republican who has pushed back against the rumors amplified by his party.
DeWine did not elaborate on how many threats came locally versus from abroad.
Some of them are coming from one particular country, he said.
We think that this is one more opportunity to mess with the United States, and they're continuing to do that.
The mostly white town in the American Midwest has seen a boom in population in recent years, fueled mostly by Haitian immigrants attracted by its economic revival, and new businesses happy to attract laborers.
Frustrations over the growing pains of the city -- where some 10-15,000 Haitians have arrived, in a town that had fewer than 60,000 people in 2020 -- have spiraled into a racist backlash amid a heated political campaign leading up to November's presidential election.