SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Less than a week after the nonprofit group Haitian Bridge Alliance filed criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, the group amended their complaint to add felony charges of inducing panic against the pair.
On Sept. 24, The Chandra Law Firm, based in Cleveland, announced that Haitian Bridge Alliance is seeking that Trump and Vance be arrested and charged with disrupting public service, making false claims, committing telecommunications harassment, committing aggravated menacing and violating the prohibition against complicity.
The charges came amid what the nonprofit and its attorneys call "baseless fearmongering" by Trump and Vance suggesting on multiple occasions that legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating their neighbors' pets.
In an amended memorandum filed on Monday, the organization and its executive director Guerline Jozef added inducing panic to the list of charges sought against the GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees.
Under Ohio Revised Codes 2935.09 and 2935.01(A), the law grants private citizens the ability to "file an affidavit charging the offense committed." It also requires the court to either issue arrest warrants or refer the case to the prosecuting attorney for investigation.
"If anyone else relentlessly made false alarms, disrupted public services, and induced panic like Trump and Vance—resulting in 33 bomb threats; schools, colleges, and government buildings being evacuated and closed; fear for children and parents and parents having to care for their children at home; hospital lockdowns; cancellation of a 20-year-running community festival; threats to the mayor and his family; threats to a businessperson hiring Haitians; and fear by Haitians in the community including a father and kids held at gunpoint in their garage—they would've been arrested by now," lead counsel Subodh Chandra said in a statement.
The city of Springfield has been in the national spotlight since the false claims were amplified by Trump and Vance.
Springfield city officials acknowledged growing pains from the influx of some 15,000 Haitian immigrants, but say there’s no evidence to support the claim they are consuming anyone’s pets. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also debunked the claims and said the rhetoric is hurtful to residents in Springfield.
"Trump and Vance knew what they were doing and persisted even after the mayor, city manager, and governor said they were wrong. They must be held accountable to the rule of law like the rest of us," added Chandra in the statement.
Last week, 3News' Kaitor Kay spoke with Clark County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll, who did say his office is looking at the charges filed by Chandra and The Haitian Bridge Alliance.
"We await word from the court and then the prosecutors about whether there is equal justice under law in Springfield," said Chandra on Monday.