An immigration advocacy group asked authorities Tuesday in Springfield, Ohio, to charge former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, with multiple criminal offenses related to claims they made about the city's Haitian community.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), a San Diego-based group, filed a bench memorandum and supporting affidavit in Clark County Municipal Court, asking a judge to charge Vance and Trump with disrupting public services, making false alarms, two counts of complicity, two counts of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing. The filing asks that the court find probable cause for the charges and issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance.
On its website, the HBA said it "advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black people, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses." The group also said it is working to "end racist border policies like the Remain in Mexico Policy, Title 42, and the border-to-prison-and-deportation pipeline."
Under Ohio law, a private citizen seeking to "cause an arrest or prosecution" can file an affidavit with "a reviewing official" — a judge, prosecuting attorney, or magistrate — to have them review the facts and decide if a complaint should be filed, the Springfield News-Sun reported.
Under the Biden administration, about 20,000 Haitian immigrants have been placed in Springfield, which had a population of 60,000. A national firestorm erupted earlier this month after social media reports emerged saying Haitians were responsible for pets and geese disappearing, and that they were eating them. Vance and Trump amplified the reports, especially during Trump's debate with Vice President Kamala Harris when Trump accused Haitians there of eating pets. Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck publicly refuted the claims.
Springfield was then beset with numerous bomb threats, although Republican Gov. Mike DeWine reportedly said of the 33 bomb threats investigated, all were proved to be hoaxes and that most were made by foreign actors.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said Tuesday that although the city recognizes the serious nature of the allegations, "it is important to allow the legal process to unfold," the News-Sun reported. He said it is "critical that we're sensitive to these issues like immigration" and are grounded in facts.
The HBA is being represented by the Chandra Law Firm in Cleveland.
"The Haitian community is suffering in fear because of Trump and Vance's relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted," attorney Subodh Chandra said in a news release. "Trump and Vance must be held accountable to the rule of law. Anyone else who wreaked havoc the way they did would have been arrested by now.
"There's nothing special about Trump and Vance that entitles them to get away with what they've done and are doing. They think they're above the law. They're not."
Newsmax reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.