The leader of a Haitian nonprofit community group filed criminal charges Tuesday against former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, over false claims they made about Haitian immigrants’ eating local pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Guerline Jozef, a co-founder and the executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, filed the charges on behalf of the group.
“Over the last two weeks, both Trump and Vance led an effort to vilify and threaten the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio,” Jozef wrote. “Together, they spread and amplified the debunked claim that Haitians immigrants in Springfield are eating cats, dogs, and wildlife.”
The group’s attorney, Subodh Chandra, cited inaction from a prosecuting attorney in asserting Jozef’s right to file the charges as a private citizen.
Ohio law allows private citizens to file affidavits charging people with crimes. However, the law requires hearings to take place before the affidavits can move forward. As of Tuesday afternoon, none had been scheduled.
Trump and Vance were charged with disrupting public services, making false alarms, complicity, telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing in the filing, which asked Clark County Municipal Court to find that there is probable cause and to issue warrants for Trump’s and Vance’s arrests.
