SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — A migrant-advocacy leader who says America’s immigration “system is rooted in anti-Black racism” has filed criminal charges against Donald Trump and JD Vance, including two for “aggravated menacing,” over the pair’s comments about Haitians’ food choices in small-town Ohio.
Guerline Jozef, on behalf of her group Haitian Bridge Alliance, Tuesday demanded Clark County Municipal Court “issue arrest warrants for both Trump and Vance” for spreading “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.”
Ohio law allows private citizens to file criminal charges via affidavit directly to a court, which decides if it will issue warrants, refer the matter to a prosecutor or reject the charges.
The small town of 58,000 people has become the center of a political firestorm since Republican vice-presidential candidate Vance tweeted allegations that Haitian migrants are abducting and eating neighborhood pets — allegations Trump amplified in dramatic fashion during his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
“In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats,” the ex-prez said in a moment that went viral.
Jozef’s sworn statement alleges six crimes against the GOP’s dynamic duo:
- Disrupting public service — by causing widespread bomb and other threats that resulted in massive disruptions to the public services in Springfield, Ohio;
- Making false alarms — by knowingly causing alarm in the Springfield community by continuing to repeat lies that state and local officials have said were false;
- Committing telecommunications harassment — by spreading claims they know to be false during the presidential debate, campaign rallies, nationally televised interviews, and social media;
- Committing aggravated menacing in violation — by knowingly making intimidating statements with the intent to abuse, threaten, or harass the recipients, including Trump’s threat to deport immigrants who are here legally to Venezuela, a land they have never known;
- Committing aggravated menacing — by knowingly causing others to falsely believe that members of Springfield’s Haitian community would cause serious physical harm to the person or property of others in Springfield; and
- Violating the prohibition against complicity — by conspiring with one another and spreading vicious lies that caused innocent parties to be parties to their various crimes.
“The Haitian community is suffering in fear because of Trump and Vance’s relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted,” said Subodh Chandra, Jozef’s lead counsel. “Anyone else who wreaked havoc the way they did would have been arrested by now.”
The Republican ticket isn’t fazed by a possible visit from the fuzz, though.
“President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told The Post. “President Trump will secure our border and put an end to the chaos that illegal immigration brings to our communities.”
Neither the Chandra Law Firm nor the Haitian Bridge Alliance responded to requests for comment.
Jozef, a native Haitian who cofounded the San Diego-based alliance, has been an outspoken proponent of black migrants well before the Springfield pet-eating controversy began. Politico named her one of its 40 Most Influential Americans on Race and Immigration in 2022.
“We focus on the issues unique to Black migrants and build solidarity and collective movement toward policy change,” Haitian Bridge Alliance’s website says. The group works with “progressive coalitions fighting anti-Blackness” and seeks “to end racist border policies like the Remain in Mexico Policy” and “the border-to-prison-and-deportation pipeline.”
The group specifically advocates the expansion of the Temporary Protected Status program — which has brought more than 15,000 people to Springfield from Haiti in just four years.
A 28-year-old Springfield woman who spoke with The Post on condition of anonymity said the charges are “totally unfair,” and many residents still believe their pets have been “stolen for an untimely demise.”
But she works in the local school district and said the recent attention has been rattling.
“It is so incredibly sad to see these kids scared or parents switching to online school because they are afraid to send their children to school,” she said. “And I think that is so unfortunate that people have taken this situation in that direction. It is totally unnecessary to do that. No one deserves to be threatened like that. No one.”
Trump has pledged to visit Springfield in person “soon.” Vance has no official plans to join him.
