A sheriff’s deputy arrived at Nathan and Danielle Clark’s front door on the outskirts of Springfield, Ohio, last month with the latest memento of what their son’s death had become. “I’m sorry that I have to show you this,” she said and handed them a flier with a picture of Aiden, 11, smiling at the camera after his last baseball game. It was the same image the Clarks had chosen for his funeral program and then made into Christmas ornaments for his classmates, but this time the photograph was printed alongside threats and racial slurs.
Listen to this article with reporter commentary
“Killed by a Haitian invader,” the flier read. “They didn’t care about Aiden. They don’t care about you. They are pieces of human trash that deserve not your sympathy, but utter scorn. Give it to them … and then some.”
Nathan reached into his pocket and squeezed a piece of Aiden’s old blanket that he kept with him to help stave off panic attacks. Danielle buried her head into Nathan’s shoulder and folded the flier into tiny squares.
“They have no right to speak for him like this,” Danielle said. “It’s making me sick. There must be some way to stop it.”
“We’re checking the fliers for fingerprints,” the deputy said. “They put them online and dropped them off all over the neighborhood. It’s awful. It’s grotesque.”
