In the state of Ohio, private citizens have the ability to legally file criminal charges.
Tuesday, a Haitian nonprofit called Haitian Bridge Alliance did just that, bringing criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance who are currently running for president and vice president on the GOP ticket. The bench memorandum and supporting affidavit filed at Clark County Municipal Court comes following unfounded claims from both men regarding the large immigrant population in Springfield, Ohio.
The attorney for the organization says there is probable cause the two committed crimes and they want a judge to affirm that, file charges and issue arrest warrants for both men.
The charges are as follows, as laid out by the Chandra Law Firm who is representing the group:
- Disrupting public service in violation of R.C. 2909.04(A) and (B) by causing widespread bomb and other threats that resulted in massive disruptions to the public services in Springfield, Ohio;
- Making false alarms in violation of R.C. 2917.32(A) 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 in violation of R.C. 2917.21(A) and S.C.O. § 537.08 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 R.C. 2903.21(A) 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 in violation of R.C. 2903.21(A) 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, R.C. 2923.03(A) and S.C.O. § 501.10, by conspiring with one another and spreading vicious lies that caused innocent parties to be parties to their various crimes.
“We want the judge to issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance immediately, there is probable cause,” lead counsel Subodh Chandra told the FOX 8 I-Team Tuesday.
“The Haitian community is suffering in fear because of Trump and Vance’s relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted,” Chandra said in a statement. “Trump and Vance must be held accountable to the rule of law. Anyone else who wreaked havoc the way they did would have been arrested by now.” [snip]
The organization stated in the filing, they want the arrest warrants issued before Trump visits Springfield, “so that he may be arrested upon arrival for his criminal acts.”
We only play lawyers here, but our best guess is that this is likely to play out quickly, and that the judge will pass on issuing arrest warrants. But kudos to the Haitian nonprofit for doing what local authorities should have done without prompting if they had spines and if we were truly a society where no one was above the law.
(Photo: any spike in crime is right here / via The Nation)
