An Ohio sheriff is under fire for a social media post in which he said people with Kamala Harris yard signs should register their addresses so immigrants can move in 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 who is in the midst of his own re-election campaign, posted a screenshot of a Fox News segment criticizing Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris for their immigration practices and the impact on small communities like Springfield, Ohio, where an influx of Haitian migrants has created political tensions in the presidential campaign.
Zuchowski compared people living in the U.S. illegally to “human locusts,” writing on a personal Facebook account and his campaign account: “When people ask me… What’s going to 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, “we’ll have all the addresses of their new families… who supported their arrival!”
Local Democrats filed complaints with the Ohio Secretary of State and other agencies, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio wrote to Zuchowski, saying he had made an unconstitutional, “impermissible threat” to residents who wanted to post political yard signs.
Many residents interpreted the Sept. 13 post as a “threat of government action to punish them for their outspoken political beliefs” and felt compelled to take down their signs or not put them up at all, said Freda J. Levenson, legal director for the ACLU of Ohio. She urged Zuchowski to take down the post and issue a retraction.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, meanwhile, called Zuchowski’s comments “unfortunate” and “unhelpful.”
Zuchowski defended himself in a follow-up post this week, saying he was exercising his own right to free speech and that his comments “may have been misinterpreted a little bit?” He said voters can choose who they want for president, but then “have 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 an assistant station commander. He joined the sheriff’s office as a part-time deputy before being elected to the top job in 2020. He is running for re-election to head law enforcement in Portage County in northeast Ohio, about an hour outside 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 message constituted “voter intimidation” and undermined confidence in law enforcement.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s office indicated it would take no action.
“Our office has determined that the sheriff’s comments did not violate election laws,” said Dan Lusheck, a spokesman for Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose. “Elected officials are accountable to their constituents, and the sheriff can answer to himself for the content of his comments.”
That didn’t sit well with the League of Women Voters, a good-government group. Two of the league’s Portage County chapters wrote to LaRose on Thursday, saying his inaction had left voters feeling “abandoned and vulnerable.” The league invited LaRose to Portage County to talk to residents.
“We’re calling on Secretary LaRose simply to reassure voters about the integrity of the election process,” Sherry Rose, president of the League of Women Voters of Kent, said in a telephone interview. She said the league has received reports that some people with Harris yard signs have been harassed since Zuchowski’s post.
