Washington, DC – Amid an onslaught of falsehoods spread about Haitian migrants in the United States, rights advocate Guerline Jozef says she received a flood of appeals from community members.
They wanted to know what was being done to stem the tide of hateful rhetoric being amplified by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his allies.
“What are we doing? How are we going to fight back to make sure that they are protected?” Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance advocacy group, recalled asking herself.
This week, Jozef delivered what she hopes will be a resounding answer: Her organisation filed criminal charges in Ohio against Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, for spreading false rumours about Haitian migrants eating pets in the town of Springfield.
Jozef and her lawyers say the Republican politicians’ statements amount to crimes under Ohio state law – violations related to menacing, harassment and making false alarms that have directly disrupted public services.
“These are some of the most powerful people not just in the United States, but in the world,” she told media, pointing to Trump and Vance, as well as billionaire Elon Musk and several Republican lawmakers and right-wing figures who have also spread the debunked stories.
The false claims have continued despite appeals from state and local officials such as Ohio Governor Mike DeWine warning of their dangerous implications.
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