An Ohio court rejected a Haitian group’s request for arrest warrants against former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) regarding comments about Haitian migrants.
While a panel of judges referred a case from the Haitian Bridge Alliance against Trump and Vance to county prosecutors, the judges reportedly “found no probable cause” for them to issue arrest warrants or summons for “misdemeanor charges,” city officials explained, according to the Associated Press.
“The matter was then referred to the Clark County prosecutor’s office for further investigation,” Springfield officials said in a statement, according to the outlet.
The Haitian Bridge Alliance is described as being a “non-profit organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and connects migrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services,” according to the organization’s website.
In September, the group reportedly “invoked a private-citizen right” and filed charges “over the chaos and threats” the Haitian community in Springfield dealt with after Trump issued claims that Haitian migrants were eating cats, dogs, and people’s pets, according to the outlet.
During the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump on September 10, Trump said that Haitian migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and the cats, and “the pets of the people that live there.”
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments came after residents in Springfield alleged that Haitian migrants were taking and eating “ducks” from a local park.
“They’re in the park grabbing up ducks by their neck and cutting their head off and walking off with them and eating them,” Anthony Harris claimed during an August 27 city meeting.
A Facebook post also alleged that a Springfield resident’s “friend had lost her cat” and had discovered the cat “hanging from a bran at a Haitian neighbor’s home being carved up to be eaten,” according to the Springfield News-Sun.
While the Springfield police admitted that they were aware of the Facebook post, they revealed that they had not received any reports of any pets being taken or eaten, according to the outlet.
The claims come as over the past four years, the population of Haitian migrants in Springfield has “ballooned to more than 20,000,” Breitbart News’ Warner Todd Huston reported.
In the case filed by the Haitian Bridge Alliance, the group reportedly calls for “charges of felony inducing panic, disrupting public services,” and “making false alarms,” among others, according to the Springfield News-Sun.
The case filed by the Haitian Bridge Alliance requests charges of felony inducing panic, disrupting public services, making false alarms, two counts of complicity, two counts of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing.
The judges explained in their decision that “the conclusion of whether the evidence and causation necessary for probable cause exists to commence a prosecution of the alleged offenses is best left in the investigatory hands of the prosecution,” according to the outlet.
In their ruling, the judges added that “particular consideration should be given to ‘the strong constitutional protections afforded to speech, and political speech in particular,” adding that due to the presidential election being “less than 35 days away,” the topic of immigration was “contentious,” according to the outlet.
“Due to the proximity of the election, and the contentiousness concerning the immigration policies of both candidates, the Court cannot presume the good faith nature of the affidavits,” the judges wrote, according to the outlet.