Ohio sheriff condemned for saying people with Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded
Source: Associated Press
Ohio sheriff condemned for saying people with Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
Updated 7:31 PM EDT, September 19, 2024
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Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski, a Republican in the thick of his own reelection campaign, posted a screenshot of a Fox News segment that criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris over their immigration record and the impact on small communities like Springfield, Ohio, where an influx of Haitian migrants has caused a political furor in the presidential campaign.
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Local Democrats filed complaints with the Ohio secretary of state and other agencies, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio wrote to Zuchowski that he had made an unconstitutional, impermissible threat against residents who want to display political yard signs.
Many residents understood the Sept. 13 post to be a threat of governmental action to punish them for their expressed political beliefs, and felt coerced to take down their signs or refrain from putting them up, said Freda J. Levenson, legal director of the ACLU of Ohio. She urged Zuchowski to take it down and issue a retraction.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, meanwhile, called Zuchowskis comments unfortunate and not helpful.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ohio-sheriff-social-media-harris-yard-signs-fb116241e7119cac51f4a03a8b6c4cf1