(This story has been updated to add new information.)
At least a handful of Portage County residents have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice and local authorities over an inflammatory social media post last weekend by Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski.
Many more, however, have expressed unease for their safety after the post, which suggested residents begin tracking the addresses of neighbors who have Kamala Harris campaign signs in yards.
If Harris wins in November, Zuchowski wrote, her supporters should open their homes to undocumented immigrants, whom he referred to as “locust.”
Zuchowski , a Republican who is up for reelection in November, did not make any overt threats in the post, but some residents said they felt unnerved by the idea of residents being put on a list because of their political beliefs.
Kent resident Bob Springer said he filed a complaint with the federal Department of Justice.
Collecting addresses of people from the opposing party is voter intimidation, said Springer, a former writer and editor with the Beacon Journal.
“That sort of doxxing, sanctioned by a gun-toting man with a badge, is downright scary,” Springer wrote in his complaint.
Zuchowski did not respond to a text message Monday seeking comment.
However, in a post Tuesday afternoon on his Facebook page, he defended his original post.
"As the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of Portage County, I have sworn to protect ALL citizens of my County," he wrote. "Recently, I placed a post on my personal facebook page that may have been a little misinterpreted??
"I...as the elected sheriff, do have a first amendment right as do all citizens. If the citizens of Portage County want to elect an individual who has supported open borders (which I've personally visited Twice!) and neglected to enforce the laws of our Country...then that is their prerogative. With elections, there are consequences."
Expert says post 'very well could be voter intimidation'
Jonathan Diaz, with the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, said the post from the sheriff was “at the bare minimum, irresponsible” and “very well could be voter intimidation.”
Voter intimidation isn’t just trying to stop someone from voting at a polling place, he said. U.S. laws protecting voters during federal elections are rooted in armed militias and the Ku Klux Klan who harassed people before elections or burning crosses in their yards, efforts aimed at making them too scared or intimidated to cast a ballot.
It’s troubling when anyone makes a post like that, he said, but the words carry extra weight coming from a law enforcement officer.
“People listen to their elected leaders when they say things that are going on in their communities,” he said.
Community members this weekend had already started following the sheriff’s lead, posting a few addresses of people with Kamala Harris signs under the sheriff’s post calling for them to do so.
Yet most appeared opposed. By Monday, 682 people had reacted with an angry emoji face to the post, 234 gave it a thumbs up and 68 loved it.
Kent resident PJ Errera was among those rattled by the sheriff’s post.
“He’s a top law enforcement official in Portage County. He’s supposed to be upholding the law,” Errera said. “What that statement was on Facebook was intended for oppression, intimidation, and suppression of freedom of speech.
“I would like to turn to law enforcement but what happens when law enforcement is the one making those threats.”
Portage County GOP backs sheriff
The Portage County Republican Party Monday stood by Zuchowski, saying it also opposes “illegal immigration.”
“I believe the sheriff’s statement is a bit of artistic license getting toward the principal belief that elections have consequences,” chairwoman Amanda Suffecool said in a statement that also alluded to debunked allegations that have lead to numerous bomb threats, school closures and community unrest in Springfield, Ohio, which is about 180 miles southwest.
Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have repeatedly insisted that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating the dogs and cats of their neighbors. Springfield’s city manager, Ohio’s GOP Gov. Mike DeWine and the woman who first posted the false rumor on social media have all said the assertion is untrue.
But Trump and Vance continue to repeat their claims even though some immigrants in the small city are now scared to leave their homes.
Suffecool, echoing the Trump and Vance narrative, said Monday that Springfield “is an example of what can happen to each and every community when and if they are overrun with people who do not understand our laws, nor share our customs.”
Election 2024: Who is Portage County Sheriff Bruce D. Zuchowski? Republican embroiled in controversy
“The community suffers. Our sheriffs are elected to stand for the citizens of the county, and Bruce Zuchowski stands for Portage,” she said.
Political challenger criticizes Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski's post
Zuchowski’s challenger in November’s election, Jon Barber, said on Facebook that he, too, believes the sheriff’s post was voter intimidation.
Moreover, he said Zuchowski’s description of Kamala – “Flip-Flopping, Laughing Hyena” — and of immigrants as locusts was racist.
On Monday, Barber was inundated with requests for interviews and citizens visiting his home in Kent to pick up yard signs supporting him.
Ohio sheriffs take an oath to protect everyone they serve, said Barber, who works as a Stark County sheriff's sergeant.
"Now it's like you are deciding who you are going to protect and who you aren't if they are not like minded,” Barber said.
“I certainly hope the sheriff's office isn't looking up voter registration before he offers to send people out, but people have a right to wonder about that," he said.
Kent resident calls for state investigation into sheriff's Facebook post
Kent resident Christopher Clevenger filed a complaint with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, accusing Zuchowski of "enabling the intimidation of voters" and "empowering his followers to then dox those Democrats."
How many complaints were filed with LaRose was unclear. Neither his office nor that of Attorney General Dave Yost returned messages on Monday.
Clevenger said he also filed complaints with Kent police and the Portage County Prosecutor's office over the sheriff’s social media posts.
Clevenger, vice chair of the Portage County Democratic Party, said he filed the complaints as a citizen, not on behalf of the party.
"Voters are protected from intimidation at the state and federal level," Clevenger said in his complaints. "I urge you to investigate this matter immediately, as it appears to be a clear violation of the law."
It remains unclear if the sheriff’s post violates laws aimed at protecting voters from undue influence. There might be a firmer case if Zuchowski made the post after early voting started in Ohio, which is Oct. 8, said Diaz of the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center.
Free speech?
But most, even those opposed to what Zuchowski wrote on Facebook, acknowledged the sheriff had a Constitutional right to free speech.
Eugene Volokh, a retired UCLA law professor who specializes in First Amendment law, said Monday almost all free speech is protected under U.S. law.
A rare exception, he said, is a person who falsely shouts “fire” in a crowded theater, causing an immediate panic. Another exception, he said, is someone who aims to incite immediate violence.
“If someone is saying abortionists are slaughtering children right now…this moment is the time to burn down the clinic,” that would not be protected speech, said Volokh, who is now with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Regardless, Zuchowski’s post was too much for fellow Republican and Portage County Commissioner Tony Badalamenti.
Badalamenti resigned from the county’s GOP Central Committee over the weekend, calling Zuchowski's post "bullying."
"The new leadership team at the central committee is not one I want to be part of," Badalamenti said. "This is not the leadership I would follow, and I would encourage others not to follow the same."
By Monday, Portage County appeared largely divided.
And those who help immigrants tried to straddle that divide.
Rick Squier, executive director of Catholic Charities of Portage County, said the charity focuses on the needs of the people it serves, and doesn't worry about the individual's immigration status.
"We focus on the human person in front of us," Squier said.
Record-Courier reporter Diane Smith and Beacon Journal reporter Alisson Toro-Lagos contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Free speech or voter intimidation? Portage residents file complaints over sheriff's post
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