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The Haitian Bridge Alliance made the move after inaction by the
local prosecutor, said their attorney, Subodh Chandra of the
Cleveland-based 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. As of Tuesday
afternoon, none had been scheduled.
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 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants who have arrived in
Springfield over the past several years, in many cases after
being recruited to local jobs, have been granted Temporary
Protected Status to be in the U.S. legally.
More than 30 bomb threats were directed at state and local
government buildings and schools, prompting closures, the
assignment of additional law enforcement protection and security
cameras. Some of the city's Haitian residents have also said
they feared for their safety as public vitriol grew, and Mayor
Rob Rue has received death threats.
“If it were anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done
what they’ve done — wreak havoc on Springfield, resulting in
bomb threats, evacuated and closed government buildings and
schools, threats to the mayor and his family — they would have
been arrested by now,” Chandra said. “They are not above the
law.”
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