A Haitian group on Tuesday is seeking criminal charges against President Trump and Senator Vance and wants them arrested immediately for the pair’s “baseless fear mongering” about Haitian migrants eating people’s pets at Springfield, Ohio.

Through an Ohio statute that allows private citizens to “file an affidavit charging the offense committed,” the leader of the Haitian Bridge Alliance filed a complaint against Trump and Mr. Vance for disrupting public service, making false alarms, committing aggravated menacing, and other offenses, the law firm that’s representing the group, Chandra Law, said in a statement.

The group is asking the Clark County Municipal Court to both “affirm there is probable cause” that Trump and Mr. Vance committed crimes and “issue arrest warrants for both men.” 

Rumors about the Haitian migrants eating pets in the Ohio town spread rampantly on social media earlier this month, even causing bomb threats to local schools and hospitals. While the rumors were promptly debunked by local authorities, they kept swirling online, and Trump even doubled down on them during the September 10 presidential debate.

Mr. Vance later seemingly defended “creating” the story in a CNN interview, saying that it created the “actual focus that allowed the American media to talk about this story and the suffering caused by Kamala Harris’ policies.”

Springfield, which only a couple of years ago had about 60,000 residents, has taken in some 20,000 Haitian migrants since 2020, as the Sun has noted, and while many have come legally and have been praised by local businesses, the enormous surge has also strained local resources and housing. 

“Trump and Vance have knowingly spread a false and dangerous narrative by claiming that Springfield, Ohio’s Haitian community is criminally killing and eating neighbors’ dogs and cats, and killing and eating geese. They accused Springfield’s Haitians of bearing deadly disease,” the bench memorandum, which is accompanied by an affidavit, notes. 

“The direct impact on Springfield, Ohio of Trump and Vance’s unrelenting lies cannot be overstated. During the last two weeks, Springfield has received 33 bomb threats,” the filing reads. “Many public institutions have been forced to evacuate, and vital local resources were diverted to investigate the barrage of threats to the community.”

The lead counsel in the case, Subodh Chandra, said that Haitians are “suffering in fear” because of the rumors and that Trump and Mr. Vance must be held to account the way that “anyone else who wreaked havoc the way they did” would be. 

“Like those who shout ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater, Trump and Vance do not color within the lines of the First Amendment. They commit criminal acts,” the filing notes.

Neither the Haitian Bridge Alliance nor the Trump-Vance campaign immediately returned requests for comment.