Father of 11-year-old killed in Ohio crash says Trump and Vance are using his son ‘as a political tool’ and asks for apologies

Aiden Clark died in August 2023 on the first day of school when the bus he was riding in was hit by a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant. The driver, Hermanio Joseph, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide and sentenced to nine to 13 years in prison. 

The crash, in which more than 20 other students were injured, has fueled anger toward a wave of recent Haitian immigrants in Springfield. In recent days, that anger has become a national political issue and included the spread of baseless rumors on social media about immigrants harming other people’s household pets. 

The Trump campaign promoted the false claims about Haitian immigrants on Monday and Tuesday, using the rumors to attack Harris’ record on immigration, though NBC News has not seen any statements that mentioned the Clark family. Trump on Tuesday also posted what appeared to be AI-generated images to Truth Social showing him with cats and other animals, an apparent nod to the false rumors.

The Clarks have repeatedly asked people not to connect their son’s death with immigration or use his death to support hatred against Haitians. 

Clark, with his wife, Danielle, by his side at Tuesday’s meeting, said it was not true that his son was “murdered,” as Vance had said. 

“My son Aiden Clark was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti. This tragedy is felt all over this community, the state and even the nation, but don’t spend this towards hate. In order to live like Aiden, you need to accept everyone,” he said. 

Clark named four politicians that he said were “morally bankrupt” for referring to his son: Trump, Vance, Ohio’s Republican nominee for Senate Bernie Moreno, and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. 

“They have spoken my son’s name and used his death for political gain,” he said. 

“They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio,” he said. 

Earlier in the day, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that the complaints of longtime Springfield residents about immigration should be taken seriously. 

“We didn’t manufacture this. This was brought to the attention of us by residents in Ohio,” Leavitt said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW.” She added that those people “deserve a voice.” 

Nathan Clark did not respond to a request for additional comment.

Moreno posted on X this week that Haitian immigrants were “sucking up social services” and repeated the baseless claim about household pets. Roy has also criticized Haitian immigrants in Springfield on X.