On Tuesday, criminal charges were filed against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance. The charges are linked to rumors about Haitian immigrants allegedly eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
The charges were brought by Guerline Jozef, the leader of the nonprofit organization Haitian Bridge Alliance. She filed them on behalf of the group under an Ohio law that permits private citizens to initiate criminal charges. The allegations state that various threats in the city over the past few weeks have put a strain on local resources and city services. Jozef claims that the allegations made by Trump and Vance led to harassment of individuals in the local Haitian community. She aargues that both the former president and his running mate should face prosecution for their actions.
“The Haitian community is suffering in fear because of Trump and Vance’s relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted. Trump and Vance must be held accountable to the rule of law. Anyone else who wreaked havoc the way they did would have been arrested by now,” lead counsel Subodh Chandra said. “There’s nothing special about Trump and Vance that entitles them to get away with what they’ve done and are doing. They think they’re above the law. They’re not.”
Since the presidential debate, Springfield has been overwhelmed with false bomb threats. This surge in threats followed Trump’s unfounded accusations that members of the local Haitian community were abducting and eating cats and dogs.
JD Vance further spread debunked internet rumors about Haitian migrants while the Republican ticket criticized the immigration policies of President Joe Biden’s administration, which are backed by Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
City officials recognize the challenges that have come with the arrival of around 15,000 Haitian immigrants but maintain that there is no evidence to support the claim that they are eating anyone’s pets.
Later, JD Vance appeared on CNN and stated, “If I have to create stories so that the American media pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”