City Hall in Springfield, Ohio, Is Closed After Bomb Threat

The city said that “multiple facilities” had received the emailed threat.

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Officials were alerted to the threat at 8:24 a.m. local time via an email message that was sent to “multiple agencies and media outlets,” a statement from the city of Springfield, Ohio, said.

A bomb threat was sent to city agencies and media outlets in Springfield, Ohio, on Thursday, prompting the evacuation of City Hall as local and regional law enforcement authorities investigated, the city government said in a statement.

“Due to a bomb threat that was issued to multiple facilities throughout Springfield today, City Hall is closed today,” the statement from the city of Springfield said. Officials were alerted to the threat via an email message at 8:24 a.m. local time that was sent to “multiple agencies and media outlets,” the city statement said.

The city, which is in the southwestern region of the state and has a population of about 58,000 people, was thrust into national focus during the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, when Mr. Trump referred to his campaign’s debunked claim that immigrants are eating people’s pets in Springfield.

The city of Springfield has had an influx of Haitian immigrants in recent years.

Bryan Heck, the city manager in Springfield, said in a taped statement posted to a government Facebook page on Wednesday that it was “disappointing” that the narrative about the city had been “skewed by misinformation circulating on social media and further amplified by political rhetoric in the current, highly charged presidential election cycle.”

By early on Thursday, the authorities had not made a connection between the threat and the rhetoric at the debate.

The bomb threat prompted law enforcement to respond immediately and order City Hall to be evacuated as a precautionary measure, it said. The community was asked to avoid the area around the building.

It was not immediately clear which agencies and organizations had received the threat. City and law enforcement officials were not available to reply to questions about the nature of the threat. The motive was also unclear.

Christine Hauser writes breaking news stories, features and explainers. More about Christine Hauser

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