SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Ohio city at the center of a culture war over debunked claims about Haitian migrants was forced to close its city hall Thursday after receiving a bomb threat, the city announced on its website and social media channels.

The bomb threat “was made to multiple establishments throughout Springfield,” the city said. “We ask the public to avoid the area around City Hall while the investigation is ongoing and to report any suspicious activity to the Springfield Police Department.”

It was not immediately clear who made the bomb threat or whether it was credible. The mayor’s office did not return calls Thursday and the voicemail box was full.

City Mayor Rob Rue said Thursday that the threat also included complaints about Haitian migrants in the city, the Springfield News-Sun reported.

Springfield was recently drawn into the national political culture war after conservative opinion leaders and Republican politicians repeated the debunked claim that immigrants from Haiti were stealing and eating pets.

Springfield police told NBC News on Monday that there were “no credible reports or specific allegations that pets belonging to individuals from the immigrant community have been harmed, injured or mistreated.”

Rue said at a city council meeting on Tuesday that the claims were false. “Rumors like this distract from the real problems, such as housing concerns, the funding needed for our schools and our overburdened health care system,” he said.

That hasn’t stopped Republicans from repeating the story and making jokes about it. Ohio Senator JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, wrote on Monday that “pets have been kidnapped and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”

Senator Ted Cruz (Republican of Texas) posted a picture of two cats on X with the caption: “Please vote for Trump so the Haitian immigrants don’t eat us.”

In a viral moment during his debate Tuesday against Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican candidate Donald Trump repeated that claim. “In Springfield, they eat the dogs, the people who came here, they eat the cats,” he said. “They eat the pets of the people who live there.”

When ABC News anchor and debate co-moderator David Muir told Trump that Springfield’s city manager had said there were no credible reports of immigrants harming pets, Trump responded that he had seen that claim on television.

“People on TV said their dog was eaten by the people who were there,” Trump said.

The president of the nonprofit Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, Viles Dorsainvil, told NBC News on Wednesday that Haitians in Springfield are “fearing for their lives” in light of the recent hate speech.

Denise Williams, president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP, said in an interview Thursday that the bomb threat had sent a wave of concern through the community. She said her family had withdrawn her two grandchildren from school after news of the threat spread.

“I’ve been in town for years. I raised my children here. I’ve never seen anything like this, and I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire career of doing what I do,” Williams said. “I’m absolutely disgusted by all of this.”

Alicia Victoria Lozano reported from Springfield and Kevin Collier from New York.