Residents in Ohio are expressing fear and concern after Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski told his friends and supporters to write down the addresses of people supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, who is at the top of the Democratic ticket running for president.
On Sept. 13, he posted on his personal and public Facebook accounts, calling Vice President Harris a “laughing hyena.”
“When people ask me…What’s gonna happen if the Flip-Flopping, Laughing Hyena Wins??” he begins on Facebook. “I say…write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards! Sooo…when the Illegal human “Locust” (which she supports!) Need places to live…We’ll already have the addresses of their New families…who supported their arrival!”
His comments come as Ohio has taken the national stage for immigration after Republican Vice President hopeful JD Vance made false claims that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, are
eating people’s pets. Vance recently admitted that his claims were false and defended his lies on CNN, saying he is willing to “create stories.”Hence, the American media has “to pay attention to the suffering of American people,” as MSNBC points out.
Residents in Ohio, including the Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, have called his comments “baseless,” and he’s now sending more police to Springfield for an uptick in bomb scares, The New York Times
reports.Meanwhile, people in Portage County say Zuchowski’s comments fuel the fire. Social media users have expressed concerns over his Facebook post and are worried that an elected official is attempting voter intimidation.
“This is a bigot racist in a badge! This is CRAZY!” said Colnith Anthony Brown on Facebook.
“This guy is a disgrace to the badge. Absolutely despicable,” Michael Hancock wrote on Facebook. “Total abuse of power. He needs to be removed from office immediately. How dare he tarnish the badge I stood behind for 38 years.”
“This type of messaging, ‘call to action’ is dangerous, decisive, and absolutely should never be shared by a public official,” Tom Hove added. “THIS. NEEDS. TO. STOP.”