A non-profit that advocates for Haitian migrants has filed criminal charges in Ohio over comments by former President Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance claiming illegal migrants are eating people's pets.
Both Republican candidates have fanned the flames of the debunked rumor since Vance posted about it on social media. Trump then picked up the ball in his own postings and spread the idea to millions of people during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harrris.
'In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there,' he said this month.
Guerline Jozef of Haitian Bridge Alliance filed the suit. An Ohio statue allows private 'having knowledge of the facts who seeks to cause an arrest or prosecution' to file suit charging an offense with a clerk of the court.
The suit alleges that by spreading false claims, the candidates led to harassment of members of the community including a contingent of Haitians who have moved to Springfield to take factory jobs.
'Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent,” said attorney Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm.
'It’s knowing, willful flouting of criminal law,' she added, the AP reported. She said the group filed as private citizens due to inaction by local prosecutors.
Trump campaing spokesman Steven Cheung countered that '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 nonprofit holds the Republican candidates responsible for false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing, and violating a prohibition against complicity, the local ABC 6 affiliate reported.
City officials are charged with reviewing the filing to see if it meets the standard for probably cause. Local officials have never substantiated the pet-eating claims, and many of the Haitians in Springieldand the country are here on Temporary Protected Status.
Vance is the junior senator from Ohio. Gov. Mike DeWine defended migrants who have come to his hometown in an op-ed in the New York Times, calling them 'there to work.' He also took on the town becoming an 'epicenter of vitriol,' and pointed to hoax bomb threats causing the closure of schools, in a piece where he did not criticize Trump and Vance for spreading the rumor.
Trump has continued to make the claims since the debate, and over the weekend said he would visit Springfield.
It is not clear if or when that will happen. Trump has announced plans this weekend to visit Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, which means "prairie of the dog" in French.
He mentioned the town again during remarks in Savannah Tuesday.
Vance helped amplify the rumor with a Sept. 9 post on X where he wrote, 'Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country. Where is our border czar?'
He continued to promote the rumor on NBC's 'Meet the Press' when he said, 'I'm not repeating [the rumors] because I invented them out of thin air. I'm repeating them because my constituents are saying these things are happening.' He also posted that the rumors 'turn out to be false.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Bridge Alliance about the lawsuit.
