Vice President Kamala Harris slammed the “hateful rhetoric” and “nonsense” from former President Donald Trump around his debunked claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s pet cats and dogs. 

Harris, who made the comments to a National Association of Black Journalists panel in Philadelphia, Tuesday, said of Trump, “You cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States of America, engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country.”

Trump accused Haitians of eating Springfield citizens’ pets in the presidential debate last week, and as viral, false claims on the topic continued to circulate, the city of Springfield has had to step up its security. 

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sent three dozen state troopers to provide more security as a result of what he said were “a series of unfounded bomb threats.” Two elementary schools were evacuated and two local colleges moved their classes online as a result of the threats, and a festival at the end of the month has been canceled as a safety precaution. DeWine, a Republican, said many of the threats “are coming in from overseas” from people who want to fuel discord. Most of the Haitian immigrants in the U.S. are here legally under U.S. programs, even as Trump says he would deport them “back to Venezuela.” 

Harris said her heart broke for the community in Springfield, calling it a “crying shame” that elementary school children, “dressed up in their best” for school picture day, were forced to evacuate because of the threats.

“This is exhausting, and it’s harmful and it’s hateful … and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for,” Harris said. “So, let’s turn the page and chart a new way forward and say, ‘you can’t have that microphone again.'” She said that she did have a brief conversation with Trump after the second apparent assassination attempt against him at his Florida golf club over the weekend. 

“I checked in to see if he was OK,” Harris said. “And I told him what I have said publicly: there is no place for political violence in our country.”

contributed to this report.

A man accused of stalking and harassing UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers said on social media that he intended to marry her and had an engagement ring and lingerie in his possession when he was arrested near a Connecticut airport, according to police reports.

Robert Cole Parmalee, 40, posted statements on TikTok and sent emails to University of Connecticut officials that showed an infatuation with Bueckers and included threats, police said.

Parmalee, whose last known addresses were in Grants Pass, Oregon, and Ritzville, Washington, was ordered detained on $100,000 bail Monday after being arraigned on the charges in the courthouse in Rockville, Connecticut. He was also ordered to stay away from a person named in court as “P.B.” and banned from the UConn campus in Storrs.

His public defender did not immediately return an email seeking comment Tuesday.

Parmalee was initially arrested on Aug. 27 while walking along a highway near Bradley International Airport near Hartford. He told a state trooper that he had just flown in from the Pacific Northwest and was on his way to see Bueckers at UConn, the police reports said, adding he was found with a ring and lingerie.

The trooper took Parmalee into custody when he learned there was an arrest warrant out of Josephine County, Oregon, accusing Parmalee of setting a home on fire with roommates and pets inside, police said.

Parmalee had posted photos, videos and comments about Bueckers on TikTok and other social media platforms and had been emailing UConn officials since June with rambling comments including his desire to marry Bueckers, police said. The postings and emails initially did not warrant criminal charges, but his comments became alarming over time, the reports said.

An arrest warrant affidavit redacts the name of the UConn student at whom Parmalee’s posts were directed and names her only as “V1,” but says Parmalee posted on social media about his desire to marry V1.

“Parmalee has shown a continual, escalating behavior and directed effort to make electronic postings about V1 and threats against those close with V1 which has caused emotional distress over the past two weeks for V1,” a UConn police officer wrote in the affidavit dated Friday.

V1 told police that she discovered that Parmalee had been sending various videos to her Instagram direct messages since February, but they were not threatening. She said she did not respond to the messages. She said she became concerned for the safety of herself, her family and her teammates after learning of Parmalee’s arrest near the airport.

In a TikTok posting reviewed by The Associated Press, Parmalee referred to a photo of Bueckers and an unnamed man, writing, “This is worth it for this guy, huh? … this is just one guy, I’ll sacrifice him, no problems, no questions asked.” The police reports mention that post and refer to V1.

In another post, he talked about bringing V1 flowers and finding her mother’s home, police said. He also wrote in a different post that if he cannot live with the woman of his choosing — referring to V1 — then, “I will choose to die, and I will choose to take all of you that pose me, oppose us, to hell.” He also tells V1 that “if you allow them to touch you, you allow them to die,” according to the police reports.

In a TikTok post before he arrived in Connecticut, Parmalee wrote, “I’m coming to UCONN Paige Madison Bueckers, I’ll be in Hartford tomorrow morning,” and included a photo of himself with airline tickets at an airport.

Parmalee was initially detained on the arson warrant out of Oregon before being charged with felony stalking and misdemeanor harassment and breach of peace by UConn police.

The police reports say Parmalee has a criminal history dating back to 2002 that includes arrests for misdemeanor sexual abuse, harassment, burglary, driving under the influence and possession of methamphetamine. Police officials in Oregon told Connecticut authorities they had no information related to mental health calls associated with Parmalee.

Bueckers, from Hopkins, Minnesota, was named the national player of the year as a freshman. She spent roughly two years recovering from knee injuries before returning to the court last season, taking her team to the Final Four where they lost to Iowa, which was led by Caitlin Clark. 

The 22-year-old announced that she will return for a fifth year at Connecticut.

Venezuela said Tuesday it had arrested a fourth U.S. citizen over what it claims was a plot to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro in the aftermath of elections the opposition claims he stole.

The American was arrested in Caracas after “taking photos of electrical installations, oil facilities, military units,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said. Three other U.S. citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech have also been arrested in Venezuela in recent weeks.

Cabello told the National Assembly the man was “part of the plot against Venezuela, the plot against our country,” which he said included a plan to “assassinate President Nicolás Maduro” and others, including himself.

On Saturday, Cabello announced the arrest of the other six foreigners, whom he said worked for intelligence agencies and the Venezuelan opposition.

One of the Americans was identified as an U.S. Navy sailor detained in Venezuela earlier this month. A State Department spokesperson told CBS News in a statement Saturday that the Biden administration could confirm the detention of the sailor.

Washington, Madrid and Prague, who have denied involvement in any plot against Maduro, on Monday demanded information from Venezuela about their citizens.

Maduro said Monday they had all “confessed.”

Venezuela has been engaged in a war of words with the U.S., which recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the election. Washington last week announced new sanctions against 16 Venezuelan officials, including some from the electoral authority, for impeding “a transparent electoral process” and not publishing accurate results.  

Tensions between Caracas and former colonial power Spain rose sharply after González Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain a week ago, after being threatened with arrest.

Last week, Caracas recalled its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and summoned Spain’s envoy to Venezuela for talks after a Spanish minister accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship.” Venezuela was also angered by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s decision to meet with González Urrutia and warned Spain against any “interference” in its affairs.