Haitian group wants Trump, Vance arrest warrants after Ohio comments
- The complaint stems from false comments against Haitian migrants
- Ohio law allows private citizens to seek an arrest or prosecution
- Trump and Vance have repeated claims about Springfield migrants
Former US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Senator JD Vance, a Republican from Ohio and Republican vice-presidential nominee, during a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. Trump said he is willing to debate Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News on Sept. 4 in Pennsylvania, although it wasn’t clear if the Democratic nominee had been consulted on the terms of the proposal. Photographer: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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This story has been updated to correct Sen. JD Vance’s title.
(NewsNation) — A group of private citizens is calling for the arrests of former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance in a municipal court in Ohio over comments they made about Haitian migrants living in Springfield.
Court documents demand arrest warrants for Trump and Vance, claiming comments made by the two Republicans about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio were criminal, according to a court filing.
The charges were filed by Guerline Jozef of The Chandra Law Firm in Cleveland, on behalf of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
The documents — filed in Clark County Municipal Court — include criminal charges, which the law firm claims can be brought against Trump and Vance by private civilians under Ohio law.
Those listed charges include disrupting public services, making false alarms, complicity, telecommunications harassment and aggravating menacing, according to the complaint.
The law firm representing the group claims in a blog post that Ohio statute allows private citizens to file criminal changes. The law firm said that because the Clark County prosecuting attorney has not acted “to protect the community and hold Trump and Vance accountable for what they have instigated”, Jozef is asking the court to find probable cause and issue arrest warrants for both Trump and Vance.
Trump first made the claims in his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. During the debate, Trump said, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
Police and other local officials have said that there have been no reports of the pets of local residents being taken or eaten. Despite the claims before refuted, Trump and Vance have continued to make comments about Haitian migrants in the Ohio town, which has remained in the spotlight since the debate.
Trump has promised to make a campaign stop in Springfield despite pleas from the city’s mayor that a visit by the former president could have economic ramifications.
NewsNation has reached out to the Trump-Vance campaign for comment and did not immediately hear back.
