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Grieving Ohio Father Tells Trump and Vance to Stop Talking About His Son

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  hallux  •  4 weeks ago  •  21 comments

By:   Miriam Jordan - NYT

Grieving Ohio Father Tells Trump and Vance to Stop Talking About His Son
Nathan Clark says the candidates are exploiting his son’s death in a crash caused by an immigrant outside the small city of Springfield. “This needs to stop now.”

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T


Barely an hour before the presidential debate the father of an 11-year-old Ohio boy killed when an immigrant’s minivan crashed into a school bus lashed out at Donald J. Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.

Speaking during public comment at a regular meeting of the Springfield City Commission, the father, Nathan Clark, called them “morally bankrupt” politicians spreading hate at the expense of his son, Aiden. Mr. Clark said, “This needs to stop now.”

The death of Aiden Clark, who was thrown from the bus after the minivan driver, who is Haitian, veered into oncoming traffic just over a year ago, shook residents of Springfield, a blue-collar town between Dayton and Columbus. And it touched off a wave of angry rhetoric over the thousands of immigrants from Haiti who have settled in the area since the pandemic.



But it was not until Mr. Vance took note in July that the city was thrust into the contentious national immigration debate.





Since then, Mr. Vance has been highlighting the influx of Haitians to Springfield as a detrimental consequence of the Biden administration’s border policies. The immigrants are in the country legally with authorization to work, and they have moved to the Springfield area to fill jobs in manufacturing and other industries.




This week, Mr. Vance doubled down, repeating   scurrilous claims   that people “who shouldn’t be in this country” were abducting and eating their neighbors’ pets in Springfield. Mr. Trump’s campaign   amplified   the baseless rumors, even after authorities debunked them.

On Monday, the Trump campaign   posted on social media   about Aiden, including his photo and that of Hermanio Joseph, the Haitian immigrant who struck the bus.

Then, on Tuesday, Vance referred to Aiden in a post on X, saying that “a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant.”





Standing beside his wife, Danielle, Mr. Clark opened his three-minute speech saying that he wished that his son had been killed by a 60-year-old white man, if only because the family would have been spared the barrage from “hate-spewing people.”


“My son was not murdered,” he said. “He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti.”

“This tragedy is felt all over this community, the state and even the nation, but don’t spin this towards hate,” he said in his remarks at the commission meeting, which was live streamed.

City officials have said thousands of Haitians have settled in Springfield. Fleeing one of the most troubled countries in the world, the immigrants have   helped revitalize the town , whose population had been dwindling in recent decades. But the speed and volume of arrivals have put pressure on housing, schools and health services.

Since Aiden’s death in August 2023, residents have been packing City Commission meetings to air grievances about the immigrants.

But the vitriol has intensified in recent months, with attendees often making denigrating comments about Haitians, such as that they have low IQs. Some of the critics have also insinuated that the immigrants have brought disease and crime to the city, which health officials and the police have denied.

More than 20 students were also injured when Mr. Joseph’s minivan struck the school bus en route to school last year. He carried a driver’s license that was not valid in Ohio. The authorities did not find evidence he had consumed alcohol or drugs. In May, Mr. Joseph, 36, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and could serve up to nine years in prison.

On Tuesday night, Mr. Clark, a teacher, cited four politicians whom he described as “morally bankrupt” for using Aiden to advance their interests — Mr. Trump; Mr. Vance; Bernie Moreno, the Ohio Republican nominee for the Senate; and Representative Chip Roy, a Republican of Texas.

“They have spoken my son’s name and used his death for political gain,” he said from the podium.

“They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims that fluffy cats are being ravaged and eaten by community members,” Mr. Clark said.



“They are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio,” he continued.





“I will listen to them one more time to hear their apologies.”




In a statement sent to The Times in response to Mr. Clark’s criticism, Luke Schroeder ,   a spokesman for Mr. Vance, faulted Vice President Kamala Harris for the administration’s border policies and said that the Clark family was in Mr. Vance’s prayers.

Mr. Clark said that Aiden studied different cultures and accepted everyone. As his parent, he was committed to honoring his son’s memory in that spirit, he said.

“Sure we have our problems here in Springfield and in the U.S.,” he said. “But does Aiden Clark have anything to do with that?”

Ms. Clark, who is also a teacher, unfurled a red T-shirt emblazoned with #LiveLikeAiden on the back and held it up for the audience, which responded with applause. Then the couple exited the chambers.





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Hallux
Professor Principal
1  seeder  Hallux    4 weeks ago

"In a statement sent to The Times in response to Mr. Clark’s criticism, Luke Schroedera spokesman for Mr. Vance, faulted Vice President Kamala Harris for the administration’s border policies and said that the Clark family was in Mr. Vance’s prayers."

Oh well, being in J.D's. prayers is the balm for all things he lies about ... thanx Luke! Now how about changing your name to something a tad less biblical.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
1.1  devangelical  replied to  Hallux @1    4 weeks ago

maga using dead people as political props seems to be in vogue this election cycle...

 
 
 
Trout Giggles
Professor Principal
1.2  Trout Giggles  replied to  Hallux @1    4 weeks ago

The Haitians didn't cross the "border". They were invited to come to Springfield. And if I recall correctly, Haiti is an island in the Carribean

 
 
 
Texan1211
Professor Principal
1.2.1  Texan1211  replied to  Trout Giggles @1.2    4 weeks ago
The Haitians didn't cross the "border".

You HAVE to cross a border to enter America.

 
 
 
Krishna
Professor Expert
1.2.2  Krishna  replied to  Trout Giggles @1.2    4 weeks ago

The Haitians didn't cross the "border". They were invited to come to Springfield. And if I recall correctly, Haiti is an island in the Carribean

Yes-- its an island called Hispanola. It consists of two countries: The Dominican Republic (culturally a lot like Puerto Rico) and Haiti (which is French speaking-- with a lot of poverty-- also crime. And Earthquakes.).

I met a lot of them in Florida. They tended to be super-honest! Why?  Because they were terrified of being deported to Haiti which is not a nice place to live. And they were afraid of being deported. 

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
2  JohnRussell    4 weeks ago

Maga and QAnon You Tubers are flocking into Springfield trying to "prove" that pets are being eaten . I'm afraid its gone past the point where they care about Mr. Clark's pleas. 

 
 
 
Tacos!
Professor Guide
3  Tacos!    4 weeks ago

It’s disgusting the way they use this family, and especially the boy, for their own gain. And you know good and hell well, they haven’t talked to this family at all. Trump and Vance don’t care about them or the town of Springfield. They only care about getting their political base riled up over fake bullshit.

 
 
 
devangelical
Professor Principal
3.1  devangelical  replied to  Tacos! @3    4 weeks ago

maga knows that the families of the dead kids, pets, and service members can't do anything about it...

also, who are you and what have you done with tacos?

 
 
 
Krishna
Professor Expert
3.1.1  Krishna  replied to  devangelical @3.1    4 weeks ago
also, who are you and what have you done with tacos?

I could be wrong, but my guess would be that he probably eats them!

 
 
 
JBB
Professor Principal
4  JBB    4 weeks ago

The bitter end of MAGA is reminiscent of the bitter end of Joe McCarthy!

original

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
5  JohnRussell    4 weeks ago
The conservative movement was built on the premise that the main organs of knowledge — journalism, academia, science — are hopelessly and even consciously biased toward liberalism. In response to this belief, the right constructed its own bubble in which only a claim originating from within the movement can be taken as true. Julian Sanchez once called this “epistemic closure,” meaning that its beliefs were not open to correction from outside sources.

, J.D. Vance, an important bridge between the GOP and elements of the radical right that have been activated by Trump, played a key role. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country,” Vance   tweeted .

, When reporters discovered the story was baseless — the closest thing to a factual   basis   for it appears to be a woman in a different city, Canton, who is not Haitian, arrested for killing a cat — Vance pivoted in a revealing fashion. “It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” he conceded. But then he insisted other facts about immigration were true. (“That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don’t know English. That rents have risen so fast that many Springfield families can’t afford to put a roof over their head.”) And so, he urged his “fellow patriots” to continue spreading the lie about pet murder.

How J.D. Vance and the Online Right Sabotaged Trump at the Debate (msn.com)
 
 
 
Hal A. Lujah
Professor Guide
5.1  Hal A. Lujah  replied to  JohnRussell @5    4 weeks ago

“It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,”

Until then, we’ll keep repeating this evidence-free rumor as if it is fact.  We are under no obligation to be honest.

 
 
 
Krishna
Professor Expert
5.2  Krishna  replied to  JohnRussell @5    4 weeks ago
That local schools have struggled to keep up with newcomers who don’t know English.

Over centuries this country has had many immigrants that didn't speak English. (Until they learned it-- then they did speak English)

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
6  Kavika     4 weeks ago

The pain that the father is enduring from his son's death is more than enough to try and deal with, without the two idiots using the child's death as a political point. 

They should be ashamed of themselves.

 
 
 
Veronica
Professor Guide
7  Veronica    4 weeks ago

So appalling.  They have no consciences.  They are pathetic USERS.

 
 
 
JohnRussell
Professor Principal
8  JohnRussell    4 weeks ago

800

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
9  CB    4 weeks ago
“This tragedy is felt all over this community, the state and even the nation, but don’t spin this towards hate,” he said in his remarks at the commission meeting, which was live streamed.

WAIT! Donald and trumpists used this family's loss in public discussion WITHOUT asking for permission first? Without talking to the family first?! What gall! Who does that?! How disrespectful! And now Donald and trumpists have the REQUIRED 'egg on their faces' . . . reminiscent of songwriters and singers requesting the de-platforming of their musical scores!

 
 
 
Gsquared
Professor Principal
10  Gsquared    4 weeks ago

It is truly shameful that Trump and Vance are exploiting this family's tragedy for their political gain.  It's impossible to imagine that either one of them will ever provide the sincere apology the family deserves.  Their depravity knows no bounds.

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
10.1  CB  replied to  Gsquared @10    4 weeks ago

There is something screwy about the polling results; Trump and Vance are insulting and. . . antagonizing millions of potential voters and yet still close in the running in swing states. . . it makes little to no commonsense.

 
 
 
Drinker of the Wry
Senior Expert
10.1.1  Drinker of the Wry  replied to  CB @10.1    4 weeks ago
There is something screwy about the polling results; Trump and Vance are insulting and. . . antagonizing millions of potential voters and yet still close in the running in swing states. . . it makes little to no commonsense.

Maybe the polling is rigged.

 
 
 
CB
Professor Principal
10.1.2  CB  replied to  Drinker of the Wry @10.1.1    4 weeks ago

Could be. It is rumored (and may be factual too) that Nate Silver has been 'bought' by Peter Theil, a billionaire collaborator of J.D. Vance.

 
 

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