Father of 11-year-old killed in Ohio car crash lashes out at Trump and Vance for using son “as a political tool”

Nathan Clark, an Ohio man who lost his 11-year-old son Aiden in a bus accident last year, stood before the Springfield City Commission meeting on Tuesday and pleaded with Donald Trump, JD Vance and other “morally bankrupt” politicians not to exploit his son's tragic death for “political gain.”

“You know, I wish my son Aidan Clark had been killed by a 60-year-old white man,” Clark began, standing next to his wife and mother of their son, Danielle Clark. “If that guy had killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hateful people would leave us alone.”

Clark told those attending the meeting that former President Donald Trump, Senator JD Vance, Representative Chip Roy and Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno had all “uttered” his son's name and “used his death for political purposes.”

“This has to stop, now they can spread as much hate as they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis, and even false claims about fluffy pets being trashed and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed and were not allowed to mention Aiden Clark of Springfield, Ohio,” Clark said.

Last August, Aiden was killed in a bus accident when a car driven by Haitian immigrant Hermanio Joseph veered into the school's roadway, collided with it and sent the bus flying off the road. At least 20 other students were injured.

Joseph, who was residing in Springfield under protected immigrant status, was sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison for first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree involuntary manslaughter.

As the Clark family tried to mourn the loss of their son, some conservative politicians quickly seized on the incident to spread anti-immigration rhetoric and criticize President Joe Biden's border policies.

On Tuesday, Vance wrote on X that “a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here” and criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for “bragging about granting amnesty to thousands of Haitian migrants.”

In response to Clark's speech, Luke Schroeder, a spokesman for Senator Vance, said: “Kamala Harris should apologize to the angel mothers who testified before Congress yesterday. Will she apologize to Tammy Nobles, Alexis Nungaray or Anne Fundner? They blame her and her open borders policy for the deaths of their children. Senator Vance is praying for the Clark family.”

On Monday, an X-account run by the Trump campaign posted a photo of Aiden and Joseph, claiming the 11-year-old was “killed by a Haitian migrant on his way to school,” and criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for refusing to say the child's name.

“My son Aiden Clark was not murdered,” Clark said Tuesday. “He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti.”

The Independent asked the Trump team for a reaction to Clark’s speech.

Kansas Senator Roger Marshall also used a photo of Aiden to criticize President Joe Biden’s border policy.

On Tuesday, Clark urged others to “live like Aiden” and not turn the incident into “hate.”

“To live like Aiden, you must accept everyone, choose to shine, choose to make a difference, lead the way and be an inspiration,” Clark said.

But Trump invoked the name Springfield at Tuesday night's presidential debate to claim that “dangerous” immigrants are “violently taking over cities” and “destroying our country,” while also promoting his anti-immigration policies.

The former president repeated the debunked claim that Springfield's Haitian immigrant community was kidnapping and “eating” people's pets, particularly dogs and cats.

There is no evidence that this claim is true. Both the Springfield Police Department and the Springfield City Council have confirmed that there are “no credible” reports of this.

“Did you know that not being able to protect your child is one of the worst feelings in the world? What's worse is that we can't even preserve his memory when he's gone. Please stop the hate. I told Aiden I'm going to try to make a change in his honor. This is it,” Clark said at the end of his speech.