Haitian groups hit Trump and 'ringleader' Vance with defamation suits over 'hate speeches'

A lawsuit by two Haitian groups who say their lives have been uprooted by “lies and falsehoods” spread by former President Donald Trump and “ringleader” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) accuses the former president, his running mate and others of defamation, inciting violence and conspiracy to violate the civil rights of Haitian migrants.

“Nobody is entitled or has the right to defame an entire group of people, putting their lives in danger, uprooting their daily lives by publicly spurring lies and falsehoods against them,” the groups, The Haitian Diaspora PAC and The Office of the Haitian Diaspora, said in their lawsuit filed Friday in Miami federal court.

“Falsehoods that the defendants knew and were told was false but continued to repeat for political gains. This is exactly what the defendants have done to the plaintiffs,” according to the groups who also named as defendants Elon Musk, his social media company X, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Republican Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, the State of Ohio and Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana).

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Trump has “a habit of making defamatory statements against others,” the groups claim, and Vance “was the ringleader who started the falsehoods against Haitian migrants, stealing and consuming people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio.”

“Since then, he's continued to attack the Haitian population there as "illegal" despite their legal protected status and accused them of spreading infectious diseases in the community,” they say in the legal document.

The result, they say, has been chaos for the Haitian community, including threats of violence that has caused schools, churches and other places of business to close.

Higgins for his part found himself at the center of controversy this week after unleashing a racially charged attack on Haitian immigrants Wednesday in a now-deleted tweet that he has since defended as freedom of speech.

“The defendants’ false statements and lies about Haitian migrants are not protected speeches. They are hate speeches, designed to defame, and put the lives of Haitian migrants in danger,” the groups say.