Father of Springfield victim criticizes Trump and Vance for politicizing his son's death

The father of Aiden Clark, an 11-year-old from Springfield, Ohio, whose death was used by Republicans as an attack on immigrants, criticized former President Donald Trump and Senator JD Vance by name and called on them to stop using his son for political purposes.

“I wish my son Aiden Clark had been killed by a 60-year-old white man,” Nathan Clark said at a Springfield City Council meeting on Tuesday. “I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt, but if this guy had killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hateful people would leave us alone.”

Aiden Clark was killed in August 2023 when the driver of a minivan collided with the school bus he was in. The driver, a Haitian immigrant, was sentenced to nine to 13 years in prison for manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

Aiden's death sparked an outcry among some Springfield residents against the influx of Haitians into the city, a reaction his father had previously condemned.

About 20,000 Haitian immigrants have arrived in Springfield in the past three years. The population boom has helped revitalize the small town, though it has also strained some public services. Recently, the community has attracted the attention of prominent Republicans, who have cited Springfield as an example of the evils of illegal immigration, even though Haitian residents there live under the federal Temporary Protection Program. The Trump campaign has portrayed them as a threat to public safety, and the Republican candidate himself amplified racist claims about Haitian immigrants eating other people's pets in Tuesday's debate.

Nathan Clark on Tuesday criticized Republicans for exploiting his son's death “for political purposes,” calling Vance, Trump, Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno and Texas Rep. Chip Roy “politically bankrupt.”

“I will listen to them again to hear their apologies,” Clark added. “Let me be clear: My son, Aiden Clark, was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti. This tragedy is felt throughout this community, throughout this state and even throughout this nation. But don't turn this into hate.”