There’s a ‘breaking news’ notice going out on Cleveland’s Channel Five News site (ABC affiliate) that an Haitian non-profit has filed charges against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, using the state’s statute allowing private citizens to “file an affidavit charging the offense committed.”
It’s all over Xitter right now, and RawStory has posted this little gem:
Trump and Vance face 'immediate arrest' as criminal charges filed over Springfield hoax
An Ohio law allowing citizens to file criminal charges is being used to target former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) over their comments about Haitians in Springfield.
According to Fox 8, the Haitian Bridge Alliance filed criminal charges against the two Republican candidates at Clark County Municipal Court on Tuesday.
It’s a developing story, but here’s a few details.
R.C. 2935.09 authorizes private citizens to file criminal charges and requires this Court to either issue arrest warrants or refer the matter to the prosecuting attorney for investigation.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; andviolating 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.
Yep, the court will now decide how to handle this under Ohio law, for all the babble these two have stated and harm/cost that these Haitians have come to bear.
The Chandra Law Firm has filed suit on behalf of the plaintiffs and you can read their entire blog entry Here, and then the 6 Page charging statement Here.
From the charging document:
The Haitian Bridge Alliance asks this Court to find probable cause that criminal charges are warranted for the violated statutes because of the harmful lies repeatedly spewed by Donald J. Trump and James David (“JD”) Vance and their impact on the community. Probable cause exists when the facts and circumstances known, which are reasonably trustworthy, are sufficient to warrant a prudent individual in believing another had committed or was committing an offense.
This is not a high bar. Probable cause is a lower threshold than “by a preponderance of the evidence,” because it does not require the precision or high level of certainty needed for a preponderance of the evidence.
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