Rejecting hate: Aiden Clark’s family’s plea for unity

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – In the middle of another national debate demonizing immigrant communities, one family has been speaking up in the midst of their own devastating tragedy to say they do not want their child’s legacy chained to hate.Eleven-year-old Aiden Clark was killed in a traffic accident in August 2023 in Springfield, Ohio, when the school bus he was riding in on the first day of school was hit by a minivan. The van’s driver was a Haitian immigrant, and Aiden’s death has become part of a larger hate- and conspiracy-filled campaign targeting his community’s immigrant residents. At the driver’s sentencing hearing in May, Aiden’s father, Nathan Clark, pled for this to stop, saying, “In capital letters and bold print, we do not want our son’s name to be associated with hate.” He spoke again at a Springfield City Commission meeting last week, just before more false rumors escalated the national attention on their town and led to school closings and bomb threats, reiterating his family’s painful, powerful message:Related Stories “I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old White man. I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt. But if that guy killed...