Voters in Portage County, Ohio, are worried about putting up political signs in their yards after the county sheriff posted a message on Facebook that many say is intimidating and racist.
"When people ask me...What's gonna 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! Sooo...when the Illegal human "Locust" (which she supports!) Need places to live...We'll already have the addresses of the their New families...who supported their arrival!" Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski wrote.
Residents in the Northeast Ohio county, an area that went from supporting former President Barack Obama to former President Donald Trump, say the post has left them on edge.
"Why would I want to put something in my yard to be targeted for," said David Lendvay.
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Sheila Longmire called the language terrifying.
"He's on Facebook saying that he wants to know the address of everybody that's supporting her," Longmire said. "That's crazy."
In another Facebook post on Tuesday, Zuchowski said that his message "may have been a little misinterpreted." However, he then doubled down by saying "I believe that those who vote for individuals with liberal policies have to accept responsibility for their actions."
Scripps News Cleveland reached out to Zuchowski and the sheriff’s office but hasn’t heard back.
Meanwhile, Portage County GOP Chairperson Amanda Suffecool has defended Zuchowski's initial post.
"If he'd have been just boring, no one would be talking about this, so this puts it front and center," Suffecool said. "Is illegal immigration, illegal? And do people within the county, within the state, care about it? And indeed they do."
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But not every Republican is on board with the rhetoric. Tony Badalamenti, a Republican county commissioner, called Zuchowski's "disturbing" but said there was nothing they could do to hold him accountable.
"We have no authority," Badalamenti said. "No commissioner has any authority over any other elected official."
Badalamenti now says he's resigning from his role on the GOP Central Committee — a position he worked at with Zuchowski.
"When somebody said something that was just said on Facebook, for everybody to be proud to see, that's very disturbing," he said. "This is the last straw — that I just decided that I would walk away."
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This story was originally published by Morgan Trau at Scripps News Cleveland.
