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An Ohio sheriff’s lieutenant reportedly vowed not to help anyone who supports Democrats, saying in a series of social media posts that he would need “proof of who you voted for” before rendering aid.
Lt. John Rodgers of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Springfield, the city that was recently in the news over false reports of migrants eating people’s pets, allegedly posted the comments on Facebook, according to images obtained by local news outlets and circulated on social media.
“I am sorry. If you support the Democrat party I will not help you,” one of the posts read.
“The problem is that I know which of you supports the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days,” another post read.
“At the end of the day I will require you to provide proof of who you voted for if you ask me for help. Weapons and ammo are not cheap,” yet another read.
An official with the Clark County Board of Elections, responding to Rodgers’ comments in an email to HuffPost Monday, reminded that a person’s vote “is always protected by ballot secrecy.”
“Once a ballot is cast there is no way for anyone to access the vote selections made by any voter,” said the board’s deputy director, Amber Lopez. Lopez added that Rodgers’ comments are a matter of internal discipline with the sheriff’s department and “not within the authority of the Board of Elections.”
A representative for the sheriff’s office called the comments “highly inappropriate” to local media and said they don’t reflect the office’s values and mission.
“The community has a right to be upset over the actions of Lt. Rodgers and he, as well as the Sheriff’s Office in general, will have to work even harder to replenish the trust of members of our community,” Chief Deputy Mike Young said in a statement to WHIO-TV and The Associated Press.
Representatives with the sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment.
Rodgers has said he doesn’t remember writing or deleting the posts, according to a copy of an investigative report into the comments that was obtained by WHIO and the Springfield News-Sun.
Rodgers reportedly suggested that some sleeping medication he was prescribed was likely to blame as it causes him to act “out of character.”
“I was taken aback when I read those messages and do not have those, nor have I ever had feelings toward anyone like what was depicted in the posts,” he said, according to the report.
Rodgers reportedly received a written reprimand for violating the department’s social media policy and remains on duty.
The incident is just the latest in Ohio to raise concerns about law enforcement officials compromising their sworn duty to protect all citizens due to personal political beliefs ahead of the presidential election.
In Portage County, Ohio, the local sheriff back in mid-September encouraged people on Facebook to make lists of any neighbors displaying signs supporting Harris.
Republican Portage County Sheriff Bruce D. Zuchowski later defended his comments to Fox News, saying when migrants need homes they will have a list of addresses to provide them.
The U.S. Department of Justice later said it would be monitoring the general election in Portage County due to concerns about voter intimidation “resulting from the surveillance and the collection of personal information regarding voters, as well as threats concerning the electoral process.”
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