Ohio sheriff’s lieutenant apologizes for ‘won’t help Democrats’ post, blames sleep medication

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio sheriff’s patrol commander who declared on Facebook that he would not help Democrats and would require proof of who a person voted for before providing them aid has apologized, blaming prescribed sleep aids for causing his “out of character” actions.

Lt. John Rodgers, a 20-year sheriff’s veteran in Clark County, where Springfield is the county seat, made the statements in several posts on Facebook, WHIO-TV reported. In one post, he reportedly wrote: “I am sorry. If you support the Democrat Party I will not help you.” Another said: “The problem is that I know which of you supports the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days.”

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

Clark County has been in the spotlight since Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump amplified false claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pet dogs and cats.

A sheriff’s statement 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 means reflect the Clark County Sheriff’s Office delivery of service to ALL our community,” the statement said. “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.”

Rodgers formally responded to the reprimand, writing in a letter in his personnel file that he does not recall writing the posts or taking them down, and was alerted to them when a coworker asked if he was OK, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Rodgers wrote that he did not find them on his page when he searched 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 sleep aid that 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 the medication, the newspaper reported.

“We’ve been in this battle over the last few months, with the attacks on the Haitian community and other immigrants, and we protect people’s rights and we don’t support the conduct to the contrary,” Mike Young, the county’s chief deputy, told the newspaper. “I can’t go back in time and take that post away; the lieutenant made the post and he has received consequences for that.”

Clark is not the only Ohio county dealing with controversial statements made by law enforcement officials on social media.

The U.S. Justice Department said its election monitoring efforts will include Portage County, where a sheriff was accused of intimidating voters last month, to make sure the county complies with federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day.

The department’s announcement came after Republican Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski posted on social media that people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses written down so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency.