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Ohio sheriff’s lieutenant who declared he “won’t help Democrats” issues apology, blames medication
An Ohio sheriff’s patrol commander who declared on Facebook that he would not help Democrats and would require proof of who a person voted for before providing them aid has apologized, blaming prescribed sleep aids for causing his “out of character” actions.
Lt. John Rodgers, a 20-year sheriff’s veteran in Clark County, where Springfield is the county seat, made the statements in several posts on Facebook, CBS affiliate WHIO-TV reported. In one post, he reportedly wrote: “I am sorry. If you support the Democrat Party I will not help you.” Another said: “The problem is that I know which of you supports the Democratic Party and I will not help you survive the end of days.”
Another post indicated people would need to “provide proof of who you voted for” if they asked Rodgers for help, the station reported.
The sheriff’s office said Rodgers, who has commanded the department’s road patrol, would remain on duty, with a written reprimand for violating the department’s social media policy.
“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 obtained by WHIO-TV. “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.”
Clark County has been in the spotlight since Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump amplified false claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pet dogs and cats.
A sheriff’s statement said the posts do not reflect the office’s mission and values.
“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,” the statement said. “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.”
Rodgers formally responded to the reprimand, writing in a letter in his personnel file that he does not recall writing the posts or taking them down, and was alerted to them when a coworker asked if he was OK, the Springfield News-Sun reported. Rodgers wrote that he did not find them on his page when he searched for them and that the first time he saw them was during a meeting with a department official.
Rodgers said he sometimes takes a prescribed sleep aid that can cause him to send “out of character” texts, phone calls or other forms of communication as a side effect. The lieutenant said that as soon as he learned of the messages on Tuesday, he deactivated his Facebook account and stopped taking the medication, the newspaper reported.
“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,” Mike Young, the county’s chief deputy, told the newspaper. “I can’t go back in time and take that post away; the lieutenant made the post and he has received consequences for that.”
Clark is not the only Ohio county dealing with controversial statements made by law enforcement officials on social media.
The U.S. Justice Department said its election monitoring efforts will include Portage County, where a sheriff was accused of intimidating voters last month, to make sure the county complies with federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day.
The department’s announcement came after Republican Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski posted on social media that people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses written down so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency.
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Boeing machinists vote to accept labor contract, ending 7-week strike
Boeing’s 33,000 unionized machinists on Wednesday voted to approve the plane manufacturer’s latest contract offer, ending a seven-week strike that had halted production of most of the company’s passenger planes.
The union said 59% voted to accept the contract. Members have the option of returning to work as soon as Wednesday, but must be back at work by Tuesday, November 12, the union said in a statement.
Union leaders had strongly urged members to ratify the latest proposal, which would boost wages by 38% over the four-year life of the contract, up from a proposed increase of 35% that members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) had rejected last month.
The revised deal also provides a $12,000 cash bonus to hourly workers and increased contributions to retirement savings plans. The enhanced offer doesn’t address a key sticking point in the contentious talks — restoration of pensions — but Boeing would raise its contributions to employee 401K plans.
Average annual pay for machinists, now $75,608, would climb to $119,309 in four years under the current offer, Boeing said.
The vote came after IAM members in September and October rejected lesser offers by the Seattle-based aerospace giant.
“In every negotiation and strike, there is a point where we have extracted everything we can in bargaining and by withholding our labor,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers stated last week in backing Boeing’s revised offer. “We are at that point now and risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.”
Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su has played an active role in the negotiations, after recently helping to end a days-long walkout that briefly closed East and Gulf Coast ports.
The Boeing strike that began on Sept. 13 marked the latest setback for the manufacturing giant, which has been the focus of multiple federal probes after a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The incident revived concerns about the safety of the aircraft after two crashed within five months in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
Boeing in July agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved the 737 Max.
During the strike, Boeing was unable to produce any new 737 aircraft, which are made at the company’s assembly plants in the Seattle area. One major Boeing jet, the 787 Dreamliner, is manufactured at a nonunion factory in South Carolina.
The company last month reported a third-quarter loss of $6.1 billion.
contributed to this report.
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