WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Ohio court declined a citizens' group’s request to issue arrest warrants for Donald Trump and JD Vance for their comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, though the court referred the case to county prosecutors for further investigation.

The case revolves around the presidential and vice-presidential candidates’ repeated—and unproven—claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield eating people’s pets.

After Trump, Vance and other Republicans amplified these false claims, 33 bomb threats were called into the city’s schools, government buildings and health care facilities. In addition, the Ku Klux Klan distributed flyers and neo-Nazis gathered outside the mayor’s home.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and other officials have decried the heated rhetoric surrounding immigrants.

Most of the Haitians in Springfield are in the U.S. legally under a program called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that allows them to live and work in the U.S. because of turmoil in their home country.

Under Ohio law, a private citizen can ask local officials to file criminal charges if the citizen can produce evidence of a crime.

The criminal complaint against Trump and Vance was filed by a citizens' group called the Haitian Bridge Alliance. The complaint accuses the two men of nine violations, including felony inducing panic.

Attorneys for the Haitian Bridge Alliance argued in the filing that Trump and Vance’s conduct is not protected by the First Amendment, quoting a previous ruling: “[W]hile the right of free speech entitles citizens to express their ideas, beliefs and emotions, regardless of their popularity, it does not extend to the threatening of terror, inciting of riots, or verbalizing of false information that induces panic in a public place.”

A three-judge panel from Clark County Municipal Court reviewed that complaint and decided not to issue arrest warrants. In their decision, the judges noted the First Amendment offers strong protections to speech, and political speech in particular.

The judges then referred the case to Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll for further investigation.

Haitian Bridge Alliance’s attorneys wrote in a statement that the ruling was “disappointing” and said parts of it were cruel and condescending to Haitian immigrants. They said they feared the prosecutor would likely follow the judges’ ruling in not pursuing charges.

The Trump and Vance campaign did not respond to a request for comment.