An Ohio sheriff is under fire for a social media post in which he said people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency. Good-government groups called it a threat and urged him to remove the post.
Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski, a Republican in the thick of his own reelection campaign, posted a screenshot of a Fox News segment that criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris over their immigration record and the impact on small communities like Springfield, Ohio, where an influx of Haitian migrants has caused a in the presidential campaign.
Likening people in the U.S. illegally to "human locusts," Zuchowski wrote on a personal Facebook account and his campaign's account: 鈥淲hen people ask me... What鈥檚 gonna happen if the Flip-Flopping, Laughing Hyena Wins?? I say ... write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards!" That way, Zuchowski continued, when migrants need places to live, 鈥渨e鈥檒l already have the addresses of their New families ... who supported their arrival!鈥�
Local Democrats filed complaints with the Ohio secretary of state and other agencies, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio that he had made an unconstitutional, 鈥渋mpermissible threat" against residents who want to display political yard signs.
Many residents understood the Sept. 13 post to be a 鈥渢hreat of governmental action to punish them for their expressed political beliefs,鈥� and felt coerced to take down their signs or refrain from putting them up, said Freda J. Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio. She urged Zuchowski to take it down and issue a retraction.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, meanwhile, called Zuchowski鈥檚 comments 鈥渦nfortunate鈥� and 鈥渘ot helpful.鈥�
Zuchowski defended himself in a follow-up post this week, saying he was exercising his own right to free speech and that his comments 鈥渕ay have been a little misinterpreted??鈥� He said voters can choose whomever they want for president, but then 鈥渉ave to accept responsibility for their actions."
Zuchowski, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, spent 26 years with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, including a stint as assistant post commander. He joined the sheriff鈥檚 office as a part-time deputy before his election to the top job in 2020. He is running for reelection as the chief law enforcement officer of Portage County in northeast Ohio, about an hour outside of Cleveland.
The sheriff did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. His Democratic opponent in the November election, Jon Barber, said Zuchowski's post constituted 鈥渧oter intimidation" and undermined faith in law enforcement.
The Ohio secretary of state's office said it did not plan to take any action.
鈥淥ur office has determined the sheriff鈥檚 comments don鈥檛 violate election laws,鈥� said Dan Lusheck, a spokesperson for Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose. 鈥淓lected officials are accountable to their constituents, and the sheriff can answer for himself about the substance of his remarks.鈥�
That didn't sit well with the League of Women Voters, a good-government group. Two of the league's chapters in Portage County wrote to LaRose on Thursday that his inaction had left voters 鈥渇eeling abandoned and vulnerable.鈥� The league invited LaRose to come to Portage County to talk to residents.
鈥淲e are just calling on Secretary LaRose to reassure voters of the integrity of the electoral process," Sherry Rose, president of the League of Women Voters of Kent, said in a phone interview. She said the league has gotten reports that some people with Harris yard signs have been harassed since Zuchowski's post.
Michael Rubinkam, The Associated Press
