Police investigate threatening letter sent to Springfield mother
By Israel La Rue
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SPRINGFIELD, Oregon (KEZI) — A Springfield mother, Jamie Bittle, said she found a letter in the mail on Wednesday, threatening her family and saying to leave the country.
But Bittle said she doesn’t think the letter was meant for her.
“I honestly don’t think it was meant for me because I was born in this country,” Bittle said. “I just really would like to know who did it because they need to be held accountable. It’s not okay to be threatening people’s children, and for them to say something like that bothers me a lot because America was founded on immigrants.”
She also said it was addressed to an apartment, whereas she lives in a house.
“I looked at it some more and I was like, no, this can’t be for me, like I don’t have a space number, I don’t have an apartment number,” Bittle said. “So it doesn’t make sense.”
Nonetheless, Bittle said the contents of the letter was concerning enough to send the word out.
“It’s alarming. It’s very alarming because it sounds like somebody who will do something bad and don’t have control over themselves about, you know, the way they feel about things and they feel a little too strongly,” Bittle said. “I feel like they’re taking things to a whole nother level, which you should never ever go there.”
She said what crossed the line for her was the implicit threat towards children.
“Made me sick to my stomach because I have a five year old son and yeah, I would do anything to protect him,” Bittle said. “I’ll do anything to protect any child. So yeah, it just made me sick.”
The Lane County Board of Commissioners had a strong response to similar flyers sent around the community.
“Let us be clear: white nationalism, racism, and xenophobia are not welcome here. These flyers are not just pieces of paper, they are symbols of a larger system of hate that we must all actively reject.”
Springfield police said they are currently investigating who sent the letter and why it was sent.
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