The filing asks that the court find probable cause for the charges and issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance.
Under Ohio law, a private citizen seeking to “cause an arrest or prosecution” can file an affidavit with “a reviewing official” — a judge, prosecuting attorney or magistrate — to have them review the facts and decide if a complaint should be filed.
Springfield city officials who represent the Municipal Court could not be reached for comment Tuesday morning.
This bench memorandum and affidavit comes through The Chandra Law Firm in Cleveland, and according to its website, Jozef, the HBA’s co-founder and executive director, is seeking Trump and Vance’s immediate arrest for:
- Disrupting public service “by causing widespread bomb and other threats that resulted in massive disruptions to the public services;”
- 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;”
- Telecommunications harassment “by spreading claims they know to be false during the presidential debate, campaign rallies, nationally televised interviews, and social media;”
- Aggravated menacing “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” and “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;”
- Complicity “by conspiring with one another and spreading vicious lies that caused innocent parties to be parties to their various crimes.”
“Because the prosecuting attorney has not yet acted to protect the community and hold Trump and Vance accountable for what they have instigated, Ms. Jozef asks the court to find probable cause based on the facts presented and issue arrest warrants for both Trump and Vance,” the law firm stated. “The prosecuting attorney then must make a public decision about whether that office stands for the rule of law — or whether it will further coddle Trump and Vance with complete inaction.”
Subodh Chandra, Jozef’s lead counsel, said in a statement that the Haitian community is “suffering in fear” due to Trump and Vance’s “relentless, irresponsible, false alarms, and public services have been disrupted.” Chandra said the two politicians “must be held accountable to the rule of law,” claiming that others who “have wreaked havoc” would have been arrested already.
“They think they’re above the law. They’re not,” Chandra said.
The Trump-Vance campaign did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
In interviews, on social media and during a presidential debate, Trump and Vance amplified claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating residents’ pet cats and dogs. Local police, as well as city and county officials have repeatedly said those claims are baseless. After the claims spread nationally, via Trump, Vance and thousands of others, Springfield started getting threats of violence.
The court filing specifically cites the city closing offices multiple times due to bomb threats, as well as three medical facilities, three schools, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and WIttenberg University. It said some threats specifically mentioned the Haitian community.
The memo says that Trump and Vance knew rumors “had been debunked,” but spread them anyway. It cites a Sept. 10 post on X made by Vance saying his office received inquiries from Springfielders about their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife being “abducted by Haitian migrants” in which he said “It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”
Trump repeated these claims at the Sept. 10 debate, which the filing notes were fact-checked by moderators. It also notes a statement Vance made during a CNN interview Sept. 15, in which he said “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
The filing alleges Vance knew the rumor was false, as state and local officials spoke directly to his staff, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. It discusses local and state officials speaking publicly to dispute the allegations, and says that Trump and Vance also “repeated baseless accusations” the Haitians in Springfield are here illegally, with Trump saying he would deport them to Venezuela.
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