CNN
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The mayor of Springfield, Ohio, has confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump campaign has been spreading false claims about Haitian immigrants since the presidential debate in September – even though the city had informed a campaign official a day earlier that the rumors were “baseless.”

Mayor Rob Rue confirmed to CNN on Thursday night that Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck received a call on Sept. 9 from an aide to vice presidential candidate JD Vance, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Heck told the Journal the aide asked if there was any truth to rumors that Haitian immigrants were taking and eating pets.

“He asked directly, ‘Are the rumors true that pets are being kidnapped and eaten?'” Heck told the Journal. “I told him no. There was no verifiable evidence or reports that showed this was true. I told them those claims were baseless.”

When asked about the call on CNN’s “Laura Coates Live” on Thursday, Rue said, “Yes, the call was made, the answer was given and what has happened since then, has happened.”

CNN has repeatedly attempted to reach Heck for comment.

A day after the city official debunked the rumor, former President Donald Trump repeated the false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were stealing and eating local pets, thrusting the Midwestern community into an unwelcome national spotlight and leading to threats of violence against its residents.

According to the mayor, there have been more than 35 threats of violence in Springfield since the September 10 debate, including bomb threats. This has resulted in the evacuation of elementary schools and supermarkets, the closure of hospitals and the switch to distance learning at several local colleges.

Although the false claims are widely considered to be disproven, Trump and Vance have gone one step further.

When asked by CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday to back up his claims, Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, said he had received concerns from constituents but offered no evidence.

“My constituents have brought to me about a dozen different concerns. Ten of them are verifiable and corroborable, and a couple of them I’m talking about because my constituents are telling me firsthand that they’re seeing these things. So I have two options, Dana: I can ignore them, which is what the American media has been doing to this community for years, or I can actually talk about what people are telling me,” Vance said.

When asked by CNN for comment on the Journal’s report, a spokesman for Vance accused the media of “intentionally twisting Senator Vance’s words.”

The false claims and subsequent threats have sparked chaos in Springfield. On Thursday, Rue issued a proclamation granting himself temporary emergency powers to raise and mobilize resources and confront potential threats.

“This will enable departments to respond more effectively to emerging risks such as civil unrest, cyber threats and potential acts of violence,” the proclamation states.

At this point, members of Springfield’s Haitian community – many of them among the estimated 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants living in the city – have expressed fear for their safety.

Haitian immigrant Vilbrun Dorsainvil told CNN that people who used to walk the sidewalks of his predominantly Haitian neighborhood have been afraid to leave their homes since last week.

As the city struggles to respond to the flood of threats, Trump said at a campaign rally Wednesday night that he would visit Springfield “in the next two weeks.”

But Rue says a visit by either presidential candidate would overwhelm the city’s resources.

“If (Trump) decides to change his plans, it would be an important message of peace for the city of Springfield,” Rue said. “We have asked many times that those in the national spotlight and with a national microphone tell the truth. And we need help, not hate.”

Rue complained that the false claims and heated public debate had distracted from deeper conversations about immigration reform.

“It unfortunately distracts from the real argument, which is the need to consider immigration reform for cities like ours,” Rue told CNN. “That’s what we expect from federal lawmakers — to pay attention to what’s going on and how they can best serve their country by addressing immigration and border policy.”

CNN’s Chelsea Bailey, Meridith Edwards and Omar Jimenez contributed to this report.