Haitian group from Springfield, Ohio, files charges against Trump and Vance over rumors

Springfield gained national notoriety after Vance and Trump drew attention to the roughly 20,000 Haitian immigrants arriving in the city, which previously had a population of 58,000. Most famously, Vance and then Trump repeated rumors that Haitian immigrants were eating local cats and dogs.

The Haitian Bridge Alliance claimed Trump and Vance put the community in danger. Its lawyer, Subodh Chandra, said the group invoked its right as private citizens to press charges after the local prosecutor failed to act. Related Press reported.

The charges include disruption of public services, setting off false alarms, harassment of telecommunications equipment, aggravated menacing and complicity. Chandra is asking the Clark County Municipal Court to issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance.

In a statement, she attempted to blame Trump and Vance for bomb threats against schools and local buildings.

“If anyone other than Trump and Vance had done what they did – wreaking havoc in Springfield, making bomb threats, evacuating and closing government buildings and schools, making threats against the mayor and his family – they would have been arrested by now,” Chandra said. “So the only question is whether the court and then the prosecutors would treat Trump and Vance the way anyone else would be treated. They are not above the law.”

Although Chandra and activists have tried to pin the more than 30 bomb threats on Trump and Vance, Governor Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) acknowledged that they came from outside the country. He did not disclose which country the threats came from.

In a statement to the news agency, Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, denied any wrongdoing.

“President Trump is right to point to the failed immigration system led by Kamala Harris that has resulted in thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country,” he said.

Vance, in particular, defended his statements regarding allegations that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating cats, particularly in an interview with CNN earlier this month in which he said his constituents had filed more than a dozen complaints with him.

“Now you’re asking yourself, ‘Why did I talk about some of the things I talked about?’ Let me just say this: My constituents have brought to me about a dozen different concerns,” he said. “Ten of them are verifiable and corroborable, and a couple of them I’m talking about because my constituents are telling me firsthand that they’re seeing these things.”

“So I have two options, Dana: I can ignore what the American media has been doing to this community for years, or I can actually talk about what people are telling me,” the Ohio senator added. “And of course, many of the things the media says are completely unfounded have since been confirmed.”

In the same interview, Vance hit back after CNN anchor Dana Bash suggested he was responsible for the numerous bomb threats against Springfield before it was revealed that the threats came from outside the country.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“Well, what do you mean, Dana? I’d really like to have this conversation live on the air right now. What do you mean when you say, ‘Your raising of these issues sparked a bomb threat.’ You accused me of sparking a bomb threat,” he said. “Doesn’t that mean you should keep your mouth shut when it comes to the people of Springfield? Don’t you realize you’re spreading propaganda to silence the concerns of the American people?”

Trump recently announced that he would visit Springfield.