Lawyer Subodh Chandra Files Criminal Charges Against Trump and Vance on Behalf of Haitian Nonprofit in Ohio
- The charges stem from the false comments made by the Ohio senator and the former president accusing Haitian immigrants of eating neighbors’ pets.
Former federal prosecutor Subodh Chandra is representing a Haitian nonprofit that has filed criminal charges against GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance, a U.S. Senators from Ohio, for spreading misleading claims about Haitians, and accusing them of inciting chaos and threats in Springfield, Ohio. On behalf of The Haitian Bridge Alliance, Chandra, a founder and managing partner at the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm, “invoked a private-citizen right to file the charges,” the Associated Press reported. Chandra filed a criminal complaint against the Republican candidates with the Clark County Municipal Court on Sept. 24.
In Ohio, “private citizens can file an affidavit charging criminal offenses and the court must either issue an arrest warrant or refer it to the prosecuting attorney for investigation,” the AP further noted in its report.
Trump and Vance, are charged with “disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing and complicity,” the AP reported. The filing asks the Clark County Municipal Court “to affirm that there is probable cause and issue arrest warrants against Trump and Vance,” Chandra told the news agency. “Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent,” he said. “It’s knowing, willful flouting of criminal law.”
The charges stem from the false comments made by the Ohio senator and the former president accusing the immigrant community of eating cats and dogs. Though these wild accusations have been repeatedly debunked by both city and state officials and many responsible news outlets, they have led to chaos and bomb threats to the region. This has thrust the city of Springfield into the middle of a national conversation about immigration, the economy and race.
Reuters reports that “more than 30 bomb threats were directed at state and local government buildings and schools, prompting closures, the assignment of additional law enforcement protection and security cameras.” Additionally, some of the city’s Haitian residents have also said they feared for their safety as public vitriol grew,” the report said. Mayor Rob Rue has received death threats.
According to the AP, about 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants have arrived in Springfield over the past several years. Many moved to the city after being recruited to local jobs, and have been granted Temporary Protected Status to be in the U.S. legally. Reuters notes that the arrival of these immigrants “over roughly the last three years has reshaped this city of 58,000, offering some promise of economic revival along with growing pains.”
He further added that had it been”anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done what they’ve done, they would have been arrested by now.” The two Republican candidates are “not above the law,” he noted.
Who is Subodh Chandra
Chandra’s practice focuses on “high-profile civil-rights litigation, along with white-collar-criminal defense and internal investigations,” according to his profile. Some of his cases include the police-shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland police, which “resulted in a $6,000,000 settlement; the “nearly $1,000,000 in settlements for 2016 Republican National Convention protestors: voting-rights litigation against various voter-suppression schemes by the Ohio Secretary of State, and the retaliation suit over sexual-harassment allegations that resulted in the resignation of Case Western Reserve University’s law-school dean,” according to his law form profile.
Before founding the firm, Chandra served as director of law for the city of Cleveland, where he led the work of an 82-lawyer department with both criminal and civil divisions. He also sometimes served as Cleveland’s acting mayor.
As Cleveland’s general counsel, Chandra handled legal work in-house and slashed by nearly 90% spending on outside counsel, saving millions; moved vigorously through in-house investigations to clean up internal corruption; restored the department’s reputation; and attracted top performers who helped make it Ohio’s most diverse law firm.
Previously, as federal prosecutor, Chandra successfully prosecuted healthcare fraud and corruption. He also prosecuted tax fraud, bank fraud, and other economic crimes. Before that, he served as a litigator in large law firms in both Cleveland and Los Angeles. He defended the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills against high-profile allegations of police misconduct, and represented large media companies and motion-picture studios.
Chandra began his legal career as special presidential counsel at the American Bar Association. He is a graduate of the Yale Law School, where he was executive editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review. He also graduated with honors and distinction from Stanford University, which awarded him the John Gardner Fellowship to work as a protégé of Ohio Governor Richard F. Celeste.
Chandra has served as Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, teaching appellate practice and legal ethics. He has also served as a legal-ethics and attorneys’ fees expert in litigation. He was also a 2006 candidate for Ohio Attorney General, winning most newspaper endorsements. The Cincinnati Enquirer called Chandra “the best candidate Ohio Democrats have produced in years.”
Chandra was also one of the earliest supporters of President Barack H. Obama, serving on his National Finance Committee, on the national Asian-American advisory committee, and as an Obama delegate to and deputy whip of the Ohio delegation at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
In 2021, Chandra was the principal author—on behalf of police-misconduct victims’ families—of the city of Cleveland charter amendment that effects greater civilian disciplinary and policy oversight over Cleveland police, and requires that a civilian oversight body maintain Brady evidence records of police officers who have been dishonest. Voters adopted the reform initiative, a model for the nation, overwhelmingly.
Chandra is a longtime member, and serves as co-vice chair, of the Special Ohio Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Chandra is admitted to practice law in Ohio, California, and New Mexico (inactive), and in federal courts around the country. He has been included in Best Lawyers® in America for civil rights and Ohio Super Lawyers®. Under his leadership, Chandra Law has been peer-review included in U.S. News and World Reports’s Best Law Firms in America for Civil Rights. And he was named 2022 Lawyer of the Year in Civil Rights by Best Lawyers® in America. His work is featured in the documentaries Free for All! (2008), PAY 2 PLAY: Democracy’s High Stakes (2014), and 137 Shots (Netflix 2021). He and his wife are parents of triplet sons.