“It is imperative that we hold them accountable, and we bring them to justice so that they know they cannot continue to terrorize an entire community,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance.
A conspiracy theory amplified by Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees Donald Trump and JD Vance continues to fan the flames, resulting in a racist online post, congressional outrage and a criminal complaint filed on behalf of Haitian immigrants in the United States.
On Tuesday, Haitian Bridge Alliance, a grassroots advocacy group on behalf of Black and Haitian migrants and immigrants, filed a criminal complaint against Trump and Vance. For weeks, the Republican leaders repeated the false claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating neighbors’ pets.
Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, told theGrio the organization felt compelled to take action in Ohio against Trump and Vance — who she insisted knew the claims were false — because of the danger and harm their lies have caused Haitian communities in Springfield and across the country.
“It is imperative that we hold them accountable, and we bring them to justice so that they know they cannot continue to terrorize an entire community,” said Jozef, who described the pet conspiracy as “rooted in anti-Black racism and white supremacist ideology.”
The criminal complaint asks a municipal court in Springfield to issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance for telling the false story about Haitians. It lays out several Ohio statutes that the presidential and vice presidential hopefuls violated, including criminal offenses like “making false alarms,” “telecommunications harassment” and committing “aggravating menacing.”
In reaction to the criminal complaint, U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., sounded off in a racist post on X, formerly Twitter. The far-right lawmaker called Haitians “gangsters” and described Haiti as “the nastiest country in the Western Hemisphere.”
Higgins also repeated the lie that Haitians are “eating pets,” adding, “All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
In response to Higgins’ racist post — which he eventually deleted — U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, filed a motion in the U.S. House of Representatives to censure the Louisiana congressman. House Republicans, who hold the majority, blocked it from moving forward.
“We can only hope and pray that the misinformation and racist rhetoric spewed by former President Donald Trump, Senator JD Vance, Rep. Higgins, and other right-wing MAGA extremists, do not lead to violence in any Haitian or immigrant community,” said Horsford in a statement.
“Every member of Congress must be clear that we need to eliminate hate in all its forms. It is time to turn the page on this pattern of denigrating and villainizing immigrants for political gain.”
Jozef told theGrio that the Haitian Bridge Alliance stands “100 percent” behind the CBC’s motion to censure Higgins.
“We applaud them for standing for what is right … he has to be held accountable,” she said.
Jozef slammed Higgins’ remarks as “despicable” and “vile” but also called out Mark Krikorian, an advisor to Project 2025. During a congressional hearing last week, Krikorian struggled to defend his published article that argued that Haiti was “screwed up” because it “wasn’t colonized long enough” by the French.
“We understand why they are targeting the Haitian community, and we understand that our existence bothers them,” said Jozef. “And we understand that they blame us for flipping their white supremacist enslaved ideology upside down.”
When asked about Congressman Higgins’ post and the subsequent House battle to censure him, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called out Republican leaders for “playing political stunt games.”
“The baseless, baseless lies and conspiracy theories … it’s dangerous, and it is false,” said Jean-Pierre, who is of Haitian descent. The Biden spokesperson said Haitian immigrants in Springfield are “there legally” and “helping the community economically.”
By contrast, Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “want to bring together our communities.”
“That is what you have been seeing over the last three and a half years,” she said. “We are about bringing our communities together, not tearing them apart.”
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