Ohio state police will help protect schools in a city at the center of a political furor over Haitian migrants, the governor announced Monday, while local officials canceled an annual celebration of cultural diversity in the fallout over former President Donald Trump’s false claims about pet-eating.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has denounced the debunked rumors that spread online before Trump amplified them at last week’s presidential debate, saying there is no evidence of it. He said at a news conference in Springfield on Monday that dozens of members of the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be stationed in city schools starting Tuesday following a series of threats across the city, sweeping each building every morning before the arrival of faculty or students. Security cameras have also been stationed at strategic spots in the city, and a bomb-sniffing dog will be in the city and available round-the-clock.

“We know that people are very, very concerned,” DeWine said. “But we’ve moved resources into Springfield. People have the right to feel safe as well as being safe.” (AP)

•PHOTO: Pedestrians walk down Fountain Avenue in Springfield, Ohio, Sept. 11, 2024. Local officials announced that a two-day CultureFest that was to have started in the city Sept. 27 is being canceled because of threats and safety concerns.