The leader of the Haitian Bridge Alliance , a nonprofit organisation representing the Haitian community , has filed charges against former US President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance , after the local prosecutor failed to act.
The charges were filed on Tuesday under a private-citizen right, for chaos and threats experienced in Springfield, Ohio.
Trump and Vance, face charges including disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing, and complicity.
The chaos began when Trump spread rumours about legal immigrants that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating pets, during a televised debate with Vice President Kamala Harris , according to attorney Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm.
Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, while defending their statement said, “President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that (Vice President) Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.”
The charges were filed in Clark County Municipal Court, where the Haitian Bridge Alliance is asking for arrest warrants against Trump and Vance.
“Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent,” Chandra said. “It's knowing, willful flouting of criminal law.”
The allegations led to many bomb threats in Springfield, leading to the closure of government buildings and schools, deployment of additional law enforcement, and death threats against Mayor Rob Rue.
With growing public hostility, the city's Haitian community have expressed fear for their safety.
“If it were anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done what they’ve done — wreak havoc on Springfield, resulting in bomb threats, evacuated and closed government buildings and schools, threats to the mayor and his family — they would have been arrested by now,” Chandra said. “They are not above the law.”
Chandra said that the US Supreme Court's July ruling, which grants ex-presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution, is not applicable in this case because Trump is now a private citizen.
Additionally, Vance was not acting in his official capacity as a senator when he spread rumours accusing members of Springfield's 15,000-strong Haitian community of eating people's pets.
The charges were filed on Tuesday under a private-citizen right, for chaos and threats experienced in Springfield, Ohio.
Trump and Vance, face charges including disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing, and complicity.
The chaos began when Trump spread rumours about legal immigrants that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating pets, during a televised debate with Vice President Kamala Harris , according to attorney Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm.
Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, while defending their statement said, “President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that (Vice President) Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.”
The charges were filed in Clark County Municipal Court, where the Haitian Bridge Alliance is asking for arrest warrants against Trump and Vance.
“Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent,” Chandra said. “It's knowing, willful flouting of criminal law.”
The allegations led to many bomb threats in Springfield, leading to the closure of government buildings and schools, deployment of additional law enforcement, and death threats against Mayor Rob Rue.
With growing public hostility, the city's Haitian community have expressed fear for their safety.
“If it were anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done what they’ve done — wreak havoc on Springfield, resulting in bomb threats, evacuated and closed government buildings and schools, threats to the mayor and his family — they would have been arrested by now,” Chandra said. “They are not above the law.”
Chandra said that the US Supreme Court's July ruling, which grants ex-presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution, is not applicable in this case because Trump is now a private citizen.
Additionally, Vance was not acting in his official capacity as a senator when he spread rumours accusing members of Springfield's 15,000-strong Haitian community of eating people's pets.
