Blitz Bureau
COLUMBUS: The leader of a nonprofit representing the Haitian community invoked a private-citizen right to file charges on September 25 against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield, Ohio, since Trump first spread false claims about legal immigrants there during a presidential debate.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance made the move after inaction by the local prosecutor, said their attorney, Subodh Chandra of the Clevelandbased Chandra Law Firm. Charges brought by private citizens are rare, but not unheard of, in Ohio. Examples might be a grocery store charging a customer for a bounced check. State law requires a hearing to take place before the affidavit can move forward.
Trump and Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, are charged with disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing and complicity. The filing asks the Clark County Municipal Court to affirm that there is probable cause and issue 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.”
Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, 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 15,000-20,000 Haitian immigrants who have arrived in Springfield over several years have been granted Temporary Protected Status to be in the U.S.
