Ohio Sheriff Defends Wanting Kamala Harris Supporter Addresses

An Ohio sheriff whose request on social media for the addresses of Kamala Harris supporters is defending his post after it received nationwide attention and provoked accusations of voter intimidation.

Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski responded Wednesday to the outcry over his Facebook post last Friday in which he referred to the Democratic presidential nominee as a “Laughing Hyena” and suggested that people “write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards!”

Zuchowski, who is running for reelection, also referred to immigrants as “Illegal human ‘Locust’ [sic]” and said that when they “need places to live…We’ll already have the addresses of the their New families…who supported their arrival!”

Some Portage County residents were alarmed by Zuchowski’s rhetoric — especially amid the false and inflammatory Republican claims about Haitian immigrants in other Ohio cities — and filed complaints with the American Civil Liberties Union, state and federal agencies, as well as members of Congress, local news outlet The Portager reported.

One GOP county commissioner even resigned from the county’s Republican Central Committee, saying in a Facebook video that “this is not the leadership I want to be part of.”

In interviews, local residents said they felt targeted by their sheriff and felt they wouldn’t be able to rely on him to protect them if they needed help.

In Wednesday’s post, Zuchowski noted that “as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of Portage County, I have sworn to protect ALL citizens of my County.”

But rather than apologize, he suggested he wasn’t joking about collecting addresses of Harris supporters, adding that “those who vote for individuals with liberal policies have to accept responsibility for their actions!”

While Zuchowski defended his initial Facebook post by citing his First Amendment right to free speech, the ACLU of Ohio characterized his remarks as “an impermissible, unconstitutional threat against Portage County residents who wish to engage in protected First Amendment activity.”

The organization said it has received calls from citizens, many of whom “have reasonably understood his posts to be a threat of governmental action to punish them for their expressed political beliefs and have been coerced to take down or refrain from putting up a yard sign.”

The ACLU called on Zuchowski to “follow the law – as is his duty as an elected official and his role as sheriff.”

Local NBC affiliate WKYC reports that Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, said that his office had reviewed Zuchowski’s comments “and determined they don’t violate election laws. The sheriff can speak and answer for himself about the substance of his remarks.”

Zuchowski’s office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.