SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The father of an 11-year-old boy who was killed when a driver went across the center line and struck his school bus in Springfield last August said he wished his son "was killed by a 60-year-old white man" instead of a Haitian immigrant.
"I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt," Nathan Clark said during a Springfield City Commission meeting on Sept. 10, one day after former president Donald Trump's campaign used his son's image to attack Vice President Kamala Harris for "(letting) a Haitian migrant" into the country. "But if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone."
REMEMBER: 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed on his way to school by a Haitian migrant that Kamala Harris let into the country in Springfield, Ohio.@KamalaHarris has refused to say Aiden's name. pic.twitter.com/1vnTGpw7aH
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 9, 2024
Clark's son, Aiden, died and around two dozen other students were injured when Hermanio Joseph, 36, crashed into a Northwestern Elementary School bus in August 2023. In May of this year, Joseph was sentenced to nine to 13.5 years in prison.
Through an interpreter, Joseph issued a statement apologizing for what happened, saying he empathized with the Clark family's pain as he is a father of two himself.
"I have a family, and I left my country to help my family," Joseph said through an interpreter. "Instead of helping them, it’s become worse for them."
At Tuesday's meeting, Nathan Clark made sure to note Joseph did not "murder" his son.
"My son Aiden Clark was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti," Clark said. "This tragedy is felt all over this community, the state and even the nation. But don't spin this towards hate. ... Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose."
Clark's comments came the same day Trump spoke of Springfield, Ohio during a presidential debate. During the debate, Trump referred to another viral post that claimed a woman found her cat handing from a branch at her Haitian neighbor's home, being carved up to be eaten.
"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs," Trump said. "They're eating the pets."
The Springfield Police Division said they have received zero reports related to pets being stolen and eaten after the viral post. Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck also confirmed in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday that the allegations were not true.
"In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community," Heck said in his statement.
