Ohio sheriff’s lieutenant apologizes for ‘won’t help Democrats’ post, blames sleeping pills

An Ohio sheriff’s patrol commander who said on Facebook that he would not help Democrats and would demand proof of who a person voted for before offering them help has apologized, accusing prescription sleep aids for that they caused his actions to be “out of character”.

Lt. John Rodgers, a 20-year veteran of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, where Springfield is the county seat, made the statements in several Facebook posts: WHIO-TV reported.

“Sorry. If you support the Democratic Party I will not help you,” Rodgers wrote in one post. Another said: “The problem is I know which of you support the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days “.

The sheriff’s office said Rodgers, who commanded the department’s road patrol, will remain on duty with a written reprimand for violating the department’s social media policy.

“We’ve been in this battle for the last few months with the attacks on the Haitian community and other immigrants, and we’re protecting people’s rights and we’re not supporting the opposite behavior,” County Chief Deputy Mike Young. , told the Springfield News-Sun.

“I can’t go back in time and take that post; the lieutenant did the job and got consequences for it.”

Former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate and running mate JD Vance thrust Springfield into the national spotlight with false claims — some made during a nationally televised presidential debate — that Haitian immigrants in the city were eating the dogs and cats of company of people. Springfield is in southwest Ohio between Columbus and Dayton.

Clark County Elections Director Jason Baker said Rodgers is not scheduled to be at the county board of elections Tuesday night, but that the sheriff’s office still plans to send additional officers there to provide security during the election count.

“I think the public should still be safe with the Clark County Sheriff’s Department and the Springfield Police Department on the job,” he told The Associated Press. “We’re all fighting for the same outcome, which is to have a peaceful day.”

A statement from the sheriff’s office said the posts do not reflect the office’s mission and values.

“It is understood that while these comments are highly inappropriate, they in no way reflect the service delivery of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office to ALL of our community,” the statement said.

“The community has every right to be upset by Lt. Rodgers’ actions, and he, as well as the Sheriff’s Office as a whole, will have to work even harder to restore the trust of our community members.”

Rodgers formally responded to the reprimand, writing in a letter in his personnel file that he had no recollection of writing the posts or taking them down and was admonished when a colleague asked if he was OK, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Rodgers wrote that he couldn’t find them on his page when he looked for them, and that the first time he saw them was during a meeting with a department official.

Rodgers said he sometimes takes a prescribed nap, which can cause him to send “out of character” texts, phone calls or other forms of communication as a side effect. The lieutenant said that as soon as he learned of the messages on Tuesday, he deactivated his Facebook account and stopped taking his medication, the newspaper reported.

Clark isn’t the only county in Ohio dealing with controversial statements made by law enforcement officials on social media.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s election monitoring operation operates in Portage County in northeast Ohio to ensure the county is following federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day.

That’s after Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski, a Republican, was accused of voter intimidation last month. Zuchowski, who is running for re-election, posted on social media that people with Kamala Harris signs should have their addresses written down so immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency.

Following the comments, the Portage County Board of Elections voted to drop the use of sheriff’s deputies for election security this year.

Asked at a news conference Monday how the two cases could affect voters’ feelings of safety, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said some law enforcement officials — especially when running for office — can sometimes make “ill-advised” comments. .”

“But that in no way implicates the dedicated MPs around who work for them,” he said. “These are dedicated people who are first and foremost people of law. They swore they would do it. They put their lives on the line to do this and I have every confidence that they take this duty very seriously.”

For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com