The father of an 11-year-old boy killed in a crash involving a Haitian migrant said he wishes the driver had been a white man so the tragedy would not be used to score political points.
Nathan Clark, along with his wife Danielle, spoke during a City Commission meeting on Tuesday in Springfield, the Ohio city now at the forefront of the immigration debate, after Donald Trump repeated unconfirmed claims that immigrants have been eating local pets.
Her son Aiden Clark was killed and more than 20 students were injured when a minivan driven by unlicensed migrant Hermanio Joseph crashed into their school bus in August 2023.
His death was a turning point in the community’s attitude towards the increase in immigrants.
“I wish my son had been killed by a 60-year-old white man. I bet you never thought someone would say something so blunt,” an emotional Clark told the audience, as first reported by the Daily Mail. WHO.
“But if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, that incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone.”
The father of a Springfield boy who died in a crash with a Haitian migrant said he wishes the driver had been a white man so the tragedy wouldn’t be used to score political points.
Aiden Clark, 11, was killed last year and more than 20 students were injured when a minivan driven by unlicensed migrant Hermanio Joseph crashed into their school bus.
Clark added: “My son Aiden Clark was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti… The last thing we need is to have the worst day of our lives violently and constantly rubbed in our faces.”
“They make it seem like our wonderful Aiden appreciates your hatred, that we should follow his hatred. And look what you’ve done to us. We need to come up here and beg them to stop.
Clark called on Donald Trump and his vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to apologize for using her son as a “political tool,” calling them “morally bankrupt politicians.”
The father also mentioned Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno and Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas.
He said: ‘They have uttered my son’s name and used his death for political gain. This has to stop now. They can spew all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis, and even false claims about furry pets being eaten and ravaged by members of the community. Yet they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark of Springfield, Ohio…
Unlicensed immigrant Hermanio Joseph, 36, was sentenced to nine to 13 years in prison for the boy’s death.
Clark called on Donald Trump and his vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to apologize for using her son as a political tool, calling them “morally bankrupt politicians.”
‘This has to stop now, I will listen to you once more to hear your apologies…
“What many people in this community, in this state and in this nation are doing is the opposite of what they should be doing. Sure, we have our problems here in Springfield and in the United States, but does Aiden Clark have anything to do with that?”
Vance has cited Aiden’s death as a reason for opposing immigration.
A spokesperson for Vance told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris should be the one to apologize.
“Kamala Harris should apologize to the angel mothers who testified before Congress yesterday,” spokesman Luke Schroeder said.
“Will she apologize to Tammy Nobles, Alexis Nungaray or Anne Fundner? They hold her and her open border policies responsible for the deaths of their children. The Clark family is in Senator Vance’s prayers.”
During last night’s impassioned presidential debate between Trump and Harris, the former president railed against Haitian immigrants who “eat pets” in Springfield.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people who came here are eating the cats,” said the Republican candidate.
The claims, dismissed during the debate by the vice president as “unbelievable and extreme,” have electrified the American political debate.
Although city officials and law enforcement in Springfield say there have been no credible reports suggesting they are true, some fed-up residents maintain it is a problem.
Some 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 since 2020 under a Temporary Protected Status program, and some residents say this has strained public services.
Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program and will send law enforcement and millions of dollars in health care resources to the city.
Springfield has been at the forefront of the immigration debate, including the presidential debate, where Donald Trump repeated the unconfirmed claim that immigrants have been eating people’s pets there.
Ohio has already provided additional resources to Springfield to help with driver education and training, to pay for more vaccinations and health screenings in schools and to improve translation services, DeWine said. But it is taking additional steps.
“These dramatic increases affect every citizen in the community, every citizen,” he said, noting that additional influxes are occurring in Findlay and Lima, Ohio. “Mothers who have to wait hours in a waiting room with a sick child, everyone who is driving on the streets, and it affects children who are going to school in more crowded classrooms.”
On Wednesday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be dispatched to assist local law enforcement with traffic problems that officials say have arisen due to an increase in the number of Haitians unfamiliar with U.S. traffic laws using the roads.
DeWine said he is also allocating $2.5 million over two years to provide more primary health care through the county health department and private health care facilities.
