The leader of an immigrant advocacy group filed criminal charges on Tuesday against former president Donald Trump and running mate J. D. Vance over their amplification of claims about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance filed the charges on behalf of the California-based group after Trump alleged during his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that Haitians in Springfield were eating dogs and cats, according to court documents. Vance had done the same on social media before the debate and later doubled down on the theory in media interviews.
Springfield’s school district has since received at least 33 baseless bomb threats, most of which originated from foreign countries. Ohio governor Mike DeWine deployed state troopers to monitor schools in the city, and the FBI has been investigating the unfounded threats sent to Wittenberg University.
Jozef invoked his right as a private citizen under an Ohio statute to file criminal charges, accusing Trump and Vance of disrupting public services, making false alarms, complicity, telecommunications harassment, and aggravated menacing.
“Over the last two weeks, both Trump and Vance led an effort to vilify and threaten the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio,” the charging document reads. “Together, they spread and amplified the debunked claim that Haitians immigrants in Springfield are eating cats, dogs, and wildlife.”
There has been no public evidence to support the GOP presidential ticket’s claims, though there have been some allegations from local residents. DeWine and Springfield mayor Rob Rue have pushed back against the social-media rumors.
With the newly filed charges in the affidavit, the Haitian Bridge Alliance is asking the Clark County Municipal Court to affirm there is probable cause for its legal action and ultimately to issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance. Otherwise, the case will be referred to the prosecuting attorney for investigation. The group cited the prosecuting attorney’s inaction on the matter as its rationale for filing the charges.
“It is our hope and expectation that neither the judiciary nor prosecutors in Springfield view or will treat Trump and Vance as being above the law,” the filing states. “We know that if anyone else had wreaked the kind of havoc Trump and Vance have wreaked in Springfield, they would have been prosecuted by now.”
In response to the affidavit, Trump-Vance campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said, “President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.”
Springfield has become the home of an estimated 12,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants, according to the New York Times. Most were granted temporary protected status to work in the U.S. legally, city officials have said.