As Election Day crept up, voters have been rather loud in publicizing who they’re voting for. But in some cases, shouting out their candidate of choice went loud and wrong...enter John Rodgers.
Rodgers, a sheriff’s office lieutenant in Clark County, Ohio, recently shared in a series of posts on Facebook that he would only help those in need if they voted Republican.
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According to WHIO-TV, one of the posts read, “I am sorry. If you support the Democrat Party I will not help you” and “The problem is that I know which of you supports the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days.”
More from WHIO-TV on the statement released by the Clark County Sheriff’s Department:
“It is understood that while these comments are highly inappropriate, they in no means reflect the Clark County Sheriff’s Office delivery of service to ALL our community and does not reflect the mission and values of the Sheriff’s Office. The community has a right to be upset over the actions of Lt. Rodgers and he, as well as the Sheriff’s Office in general, will have to work even harder to replenish the trust of members of our community,” the statement read in part.
Due to his actions, Rodgers received a written reprimand for violating the department’s social media policy. But, he will continue to remain on duty. In an investigative file obtained by WHIO-TV, Rodgers blamed the posts on sleeping aids he was prescribed by his doctor.
He wrote to his supervisors, “I do not remember writing these posts or deleting any posts.” He explained that the sleeping aids, “cause some of my communication to be ‘out of character’ which is a documented side effect.”
In a statement to the Springfield News-Sun, Mike Young, Clark County’s chief deputy, said, “We’ve been in this battle over the last few months, with the attacks on the Haitian community and other immigrants, and we protect people’s rights and we don’t support the conduct to the contrary. I can’t go back in time and take that post away; the lieutenant made the post and he has received consequences for that.”
Rodgers has since deactivated his Facebook account and apparently stopped taking the sleeping aids, according to the News-Sun.
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