Ohio sheriff’s lieutenant blames sleep med after posting he wouldn’t help Democrats

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — A lieutenant for the Clark County, Ohio, sheriff's office is blaming sleep medication after he posted on social media that he would not help Democrats.

Lt. John Rodgers has since taken down the posts on Facebook and has apologized, according to WHIO Channel 7 .

"I know I cannot apologize enough, and my apologies may seem empty, but I will continue to apologize as long as necessary," Rodgers said in the statement, WHIO reports.

"I know it will be difficult for the public to trust me, but I will do everything in my power to start mending that trust. I apologize from the bottom of my heart and want to ensure our community I will always serve to the best of my ability and strive to do better. I want to ensure the citizens in our community that I have always treated everyone with dignity and respect no matter our differences and will strive to show them I can do better."

The Springfield News-Sun reports Rodgers has received a written reprimand for the post. Rodgers has worked for the sheriff's office for 22 years.

WHIO reports that in the original posts, Rodgers wrote: "I am sorry. If you support the Democrat Party I will not help you. ... The problem is that I know which of you supports the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days."

He also wrote that he would factor in a person's voting record before responding to calls, WHIO reports.

The News-Sun reports that Rodgers blamed sleep medication for him making the "out-of-character" statements. He reportedly said he does not remember writing the posts on Facebook.

Springfield already has been the center of national attention after Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance falsely claimed that Haitian residents in the city were eating pets.

This also is not the first time an Ohio law-enforcement official has drawn scrutiny because of political comments. Last month in Portage County, Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski wrote an online post that told supporters to "write down" the addresses of residents whose yards had signs supporting Kamala Harris.

In the now-deleted Facebook post, Zuchowski wrote: "When people ask me what's gonna happen when 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 their New families who supported their arrival!"